Gold Posts Slight Post-Holiday Gains

Gold has moved higher on Friday, taking advantage of light trade in the markets after the Christmas holiday. In the European session, as the spot price stands at $1187.06 per ounce. The metal has recovered some of the sharp losses recorded on Monday. There are no US releases on Friday, so traders can expect a quiet North American session as we wrap up the trading week.

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%. 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 Friday, December 26, 2014

XAU/USD December 26 at 10:25 GMT

XAU/USD 1188.36 H: 1188.93 L: 1176.52

XAU/USD Technical

• XAU/USD posted gains in the Asian session. The pair is almost unchanged in European trade.
• On the upside, 1200 has weakened as gold has moved higher. 1215 is next.
• 1175 is an immediate support line.
• 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 unchanged on Friday. 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

* There are no US releases on Friday.

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.