Gold Gains Ground, Investors Eye Final GDP

Gold has posted gains in the Wednesday session. In North American trade, the spot price for an ounce of gold is $1265.24, up 0.30% on the day. On the release front, Existing Home Sales improved to 5.81 million in November, its strongest pace since December 2006. Thursday is a busy day in the US, with the release of third quarter Final GDP. We’ll also get a look at the Philly Fed Manufacturing Index and unemployment claims.

It’s been a tough battle for Republicans, but President Trump’s election pledge to implement major tax reform is on the verge of becoming law. The tax bill was passed in the House of Representatives and the Senate on Tuesday, but the bill is being sent back to the House for another vote on Wednesday due to a procedural requirement. The legislation is expected to be ratified by the House and will then be sent to Trump to be signed into law. As expected, the congressional votes went along party lines, with the Senate narrowly approving the bill by a count of 51-48. This marks the first major overhaul of the US tax code in 30 years, and reduces corporate taxes from 35% to 21%. After failing to overturn Obamacare, the Republicans can finally chalk up their first legislative victory in the Trump administration, ahead of Congressional elections in 2018.

The US economy has been firing on all cylinders, marked by strong growth and low unemployment. The fly in the ointment has been inflation, which remains well below the Federal Reserve target of 2.0%. The economy gets a report card for its third quarter performance, with the release of Final GDP on Thursday. Investors expect another banner quarter, as the estimate stands at 3.3%, which would be unchanged from the Preliminary GDP release. We could see some movement in gold prices following the GDP release.

XAU/USD Fundamentals

Wednesday (December 20)

• 10:00 US Existing Home Sales. Estimate 5.53M. Actual 5.81M
• 10:30 US Crude Oil Inventories. Estimate -3.6M. Actual -6.5M
• 15:00 President Trump Speaks

Thursday (December 21)

• 8:30 US Final GDP. Estimate 3.3%
• 8:30 US Philly Fed Manufacturing Index. Estimate 21.5
• 8:30 US Unemployment Claims. Estimate 232K

*All release times are GMT

*Key events are in bold

XAU/USD for Wednesday, December 20, 2017

XAU/USD December 20 at 11:50 EST

Open: 1261.43 High: 1266.27 Low: 1261.28 Close: 1265.24

XAU/USD Technical

• XAU/USD edged higher in the Asian session and European sessions. The pair posted slight losses in North American trade but has recovered
• 1260 is providing support
• 1285 is the next resistance line
• Current range: 1260 to 1285

Further levels in both directions:

• Below: 1260, 1240, 1213 and 1188
• Above: 1285, 1307 and 1337

OANDA’s Open Positions Ratio

XAU/USD ratio is unchanged in the Wednesday session. Currently, long positions have a majority (71%), indicative of trader bias towards XAU/USD reversing directions and moving to higher ground.

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.