Gold Remains Listless Ahead of Unemployment Claims

Gold is showing little movement on Wednesday, as the spot price stands at $1177.61 per ounce. The metal had traded closed to the key 1200 line for most of December, but posted sharp losses to start off the week. In the US, today’s highlight is Unemployment Claims. The key indicator is usually released each Thursday, but has been brought forward due to the Christmas holiday. The markets are not expecting much change from the previous release, with the estimate standing at 291 thousand.

In the US, there were a host of key events on Tuesday, with mixed results. GDP was red-hot in Q3, jumping 5.0%, ahead of the estimate of 4.6%. This marked the indicator’s strongest gain since the third quarter of 2003. The US economy is expected to continue to surge in 2015, driven by increased consumer spending and lower oil prices. The news was not as positive from Core Durable Goods Orders, which posted a decline of 0.4%, its fourth decline in five readings. The reading was well off the estimate of 1.1%. Durable Goods Orders looked even worse, with a reading of -0.7%. This surprised the markets which had anticipated a strong gain of 3.0%.

Elsewhere in the US, housing data continues to weaken as New Home Sales slipped to 438 thousand, its poorest showing since July and well short of the forecast of 461 thousand. UoM Consumer Sentiment continues to rise, hitting 93.6 points in December. This marked its highest level since February 2007, as the US consumer remains very optimistic about the economy as we move into 2015.

XAU/USD for Wednesday, December 24, 2014

XAU/USD December 24 at 10:35 GMT

XAU/USD 1177.01 H: 1181.07 L: 1176.10

 

XAU/USD Technical

S3 S2 S1 R1 R2 R3
1130 1156 1175 1200 1215 1240

 

  • XAU/USD has shown little movement in the Asian and European sessions, as the pair trades just above support at 1175.
  • On the upside, 1200 has some breathing room as the pair trades at lower levels. 1215 is next.
  • On the downside, 1175 remains under strong pressure. Will the pair break below this line during the day?
  • Current range: 1175 to 1200

Further levels in both directions:

  • Below: 1175, 1156, 1130 and 1111
  • Above: 1200, 1215, 1240, 1255 and 1275

 

OANDA’s Open Positions Ratio

XAU/USD ratio is almost unchanged on Wednesday. This is consistent with the lack of movement we are seeing from the pair. The ratio has a majority of long positions, indicative of trader bias towards gold moving to higher ground.

XAU/USD Fundamentals

  • 13:30 US Unemployment Claims. Estimate 291K.
  • 15:30 US Crude Oil Inventories. Estimate -2.4M.
  • 17:00 US Natural Gas Storage. Estimate -81B.

* Key releases are highlighted in bold

*All release times are GMT

This article is for general information purposes only. It is not investment advice or a solution to buy or sell securities. Opinions are the authors; not necessarily that of OANDA Corporation or any of its affiliates, subsidiaries, officers or directors. Leveraged trading is high risk and not suitable for all. You could lose all of your deposited funds.

Kenny Fisher

Kenny Fisher

Market Analyst at OANDA
A highly experienced financial market analyst with a focus on fundamental analysis, Kenneth Fisher’s daily commentary covers a broad range of markets including forex, equities and commodities. His work has been published in several major online financial publications including Investing.com, Seeking Alpha and FXStreet. Based in Israel, Kenny has been a MarketPulse contributor since 2012.