Gold Slips after Hitting a 10-Week High despite Weak US Greenback

Gold prices edged lower on Friday, but held near a more than 10-week high hit in the previous session when the metal breached a key resistance level, stoking optimism about an uptick in prices as result of US macro data missing expectations. As of writing this article, spot gold XAUUSD is currently trading at $1218.42 an ounce down by 0.45% on the day, while US Gold Futures GCcv1 is trading at $1222 an ounce down by 0.46% on the day. Spot Gold yesterday hit an intra-day high at $1226.40 the highest in 10 weeks as US CPI data and jobless data missed expectation adding bearish influence to an already weak US Greenback in broad market. With major equity markets still reeling from effects of recent turbulence owing to hike in bond yields , Gold has managed to hold steady near yesterday’s highs despite moving down from 10 week high across Friday’s market hours.

Crude Oil Price Rebounds Post Equity Influenced Decline From Previous Trading Session

Yesterday, investors were seeking a shelter to protect their investment, triggering safe-haven buying. Markets are slightly recovering now and the mood is starting to loosen up a little bit. We are also seeing a little bit of profit-taking in precious metals. Although gold has receded today, if it is able to push higher and break above $1,235 an ounce, it may change the trend and lead to a lot of short-covering. Thursday’s surge ensured that bullion broke above a narrow trading range it has been stuck in for the past 1-1/2 months. Meanwhile silver also saw some decline in spot market owing to profit booking activity post yesterday’s bullish run and is currently trading at $14.610 up by 0.18% on the day.

Last week, $100 oil was the talk of Wall Street. This week, a broad market sell-off has made that chatter seem like distant noise.  Brent crude oil, which last week rocketed above $86 a barrel for the first time in nearly four years, now sits at a three-week low just above $80 while U.S. oil fell over the two days as well with West Texas Intermediate crude going down by $4 a barrel. On Thursday the market also got a bearish report showing U.S. crude stockpiles rose by 6 million barrels and gasoline inventories jumped 1 million barrels. While OPEC reported that its members are so far offsetting production declines in Iran and Venezuela, helping to alleviate some of the concern about supply shortages that have pushed up oil prices. Spot US Crude WTIUSD is currently trading at $71.74/b up 0.93% on the day