Gold Steady Ahead of Major US Releases

Gold is stable on Wednesday, as the spot price stands at $1196 per ounce. On the release front, there are a host of key US events ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday on Thursday. These include Core Durable Goods Orders, Unemployment Claims, UoM Consumer Sentiment and New Homes Sales.

US economic growth continues to rack up impressive numbers, posting an excellent gain of 3.9% in Q3, well above the estimate of 3.3%. This followed a gain in Q2 of 4.2%, which also beat the estimate. This was the strongest two-quarter performance since 2003, and has raised expectations about the Fed raising rates in the first half of 2014. The other key release, Consumer Confidence, was unexpectedly soft, dropping to 88.7 points. This was well off the estimate of 95.9 points.

German confidence indicators continue to point upwards. Ifo Business Climate rose to 104.7 points in November. Importantly, this reading snapped a streak of six straight declines. ZEW Economic Sentiment jumped 11.5 points, crushing the estimate of 0.9 points. This strong optimism is somewhat puzzling, given that inflation and growth levels in the Eurozone’s largest economy remain weak. At the same time, increasing confidence in the German economy could translate into stronger German numbers, which would help boost the ailing Eurozone.

XAU/USD for Wednesday, November 26, 2014

XAU/USD November 26 at 10:15 GMT

XAU/USD 1198.54 H: 1201.29 L: 1195.08

 

XAU/USD Technical

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

 

  • XAU/USD has been uneventful in the Asian and European sessions, as the pair continues to trade close to the 1200 level.
  • 1175 is an immediate support level.
  • 1200 is a weak resistance line and continues to see action. 1215 is next.
  • 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 pointing to gains in short positions. This is consistent with the movement of the pair, as gold has posted very small losses. The pair is close to a split between long and short positions, indicative of a lack of trader bias as to what to expect from the pair.

XAU/USD Fundamentals

  • 13:30 US Core Durable Goods Orders. Estimate 0.5%.
  • 13:30 US Unemployment Claims. Estimate 287K.
  • 13:30 US Core PCE Price Index. Estimate 0.1%.
  • 13:30 US Durable Goods Orders. Estimate -0.4%.
  • 13:30 US Personal Spending. Estimate 0.4%.
  • 13:30 US Personal Income. Estimate 0.4%.
  • 14:45 US Chicago PMI. Estimate 63.1 points.
  • 14:55 US Revised UoM Consumer Sentiment. Estimate 90.2 points.
  • 14:55 US Revised UoM Inflation Expectations.
  • 15:00 US New Home Sales. Estimate 471K.
  • 15:00 US New Pending Home Sales. Estimate 0.9%.
  • 15:30 US Crude Oil Inventories. Estimate 0.4M.
  • 15:00 US Natural Gas Storage. Estimate -145B.

*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 and macroeconomic analysis, Kenny Fisher’s daily commentary covers a broad range of markets including forex, equities and commodities. His work has been published in major online financial publications including Investing.com, Seeking Alpha and FXStreet. Kenny has been a MarketPulse contributor since 2012.