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Gold Consolidates as JOLTs Report Offsets Brexit Confusion

By:
David Becker
Published: Dec 10, 2018, 18:09 UTC

Gold prices edged lower on Monday as mixed signals helped the yellow metal consolidate.  Fear initially hit the markets as Prime Minister Terresa May told

Gold weekly chart, December 10, 2018

Gold prices edged lower on Monday as mixed signals helped the yellow metal consolidate.  Fear initially hit the markets as Prime Minister Terresa May told parliament that she did not have the votes to move forward with Brexit and that she needed permission to extend the vote to tomorrow. This was offset by a robust JOLTs report in the US which showed more than 1-million more jobs where added to advertisements in October.

Technical Analysis

Gold prices consolidated after screaming higher on Friday breaking through the October highs at 1,244 which is now seen as short term support. Resistance is seen near the 50-day moving average at 1,269. Short-term momentum has turned positive as the fast stochastic generated a crossover buy signal. The MACD (moving average convergence divergence) histogram is printing in the black with an upward sloping trajectory which points to accelerating positive momentum. The RSI (relative strength index) surged higher breaking out which also reflects accelerating positive momentum. The current reading of the RSI is 53, which is in the middle of the neutral range.

JOLTS Report Shows More Jobs Available

The Labor Department report that there was 1 million more jobs than unemployed workers in the most recent government count of job openings. Total available jobs stood at 7.08 million for October, the second-highest level surpassed only by the 7.3 million in August, the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey showed. By comparison, there were just 6.08 million Americans classified as unemployed for the month.

The survey shows a tightening jobs market at a time when questions are arising over the broader economy’s strength. JOLTS data showed a mostly strong picture for the employment situation. The amount of openings was more than 1 million higher than the same period a year ago, a 16.8 percent increase. The labor pool, though, continues to shrink, with the current unemployed level down 449,000 from October 2017, a 6.9 percent decline. November saw another decline, to 5.98 million; JOLTS numbers only extend through October.

About the Author

David Becker focuses his attention on various consulting and portfolio management activities at Fortuity LLC, where he currently provides oversight for a multimillion-dollar portfolio consisting of commodities, debt, equities, real estate, and more.

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