Gold & Silver News – 13th Oct 2014
This week gold hit a two-week high as equities slumped and the US dollar retreated, but declined again by the end of the week after positive jobs data was released. Overall, gold prices saw out the end of the week with a higher close for the first time since August, holding above the USD$1,200-level.
Gold and silver prices
| Commodity | Units | Price |
Change |
% Change |
| COMEX Gold (Dec 14 delivery) | USD/t oz. | USD$1,221.70 (AUD$1,406.48) |
-3.60 |
-0.29% |
| Gold Spot | USD/t oz. | USD$1,223.16 (AUD$1,408.16) |
-1.17 |
-0.10% |
| COMEX Silver (Dec 14 delivery) | USD/t oz. | USD17.30 (AUD$19.92) |
-0.12 |
-0.66% |
| US Dollar Spot | USD/t oz. | USD17.39 (AUD$20.02) |
+0.03 |
+0.15% |
Weekly movement charts:
 |
 |
Source: NASDAQ
On Monday Gold slid to USD$1,183.30 (AUD$1362.28), its lowest since last December. As the week progressed, the yellow metal rallied the most in two months after a Federal Reserve report showed policy makers expected a global economic slowdown to increase risks to US growth, causing the US dollar to retreat and strengthen speculation of lower interest rates for a longer period. Prices reached a high of USD$1,234 (AUD$1420.64) thursday, the highest since September 23 and pushing the metal to a three week high. However, a decline set in at the end of the week, due to positive economic data in the US that revealed unemployment benefits applications were at their lowest in eight years while job openings for August were at their highest in 13 years.
On Friday before markets closed for the week, Gold futures for December delivery fell 0.3% to settle at USD$1,221.70 (AUD$1,406.48) an ounce on the New York Comex. Despite Friday’s falls, Gold ended the week up 2.4%. Meanwhile Silver futures for December delivery dropped 0.7% to USD$17.303 (AUD$19.92) an ounce on the Comex, up 2.8% for the week.
One of the causes behind Gold’s boost this week was increased weakness in equities over concerns about global growth, particularly in Europe and China, as well as weakening crude oil, with prices dropping under USD$90 (AUD$103.61) per barrel.
For the coming week, Bloomberg reports that US government data currently indicates money managers have cut bets on higher prices to the lowest for this year. However, the weekly Kitco News Gold Survey shows a mixed sentiment, with 10 of 23 respondents expecting higher prices, and nine forecasting lower prices for the week ahead[1].
Forbes places the Gold bulls’ first resistance at Thursday’s high of USD$1,234.00 (AUD$1420.64) and second at USD$1,242.00 (AUD$1429.85) with bears’ technical support at USD$1,219.30 (AUD$1403.72) and then at USD$1,210.00 (AUD$1393.01). For silver, first resistance is Thursday’s high of USD$17.72 (AUD$20.40) and then USD$18.00 (AUD$20.72), while first support is seen at USD$17.25 (AUD$19.86) and then at USD$17.00 (AUD$19.57).
Important upcoming announcements include China economic reports and US inflation data due next week[2].
By Lisa Casagrande | https://www.goldbullionaustralia.com.au