Gold Sees Slight Gains As Greenback Rout Continues

(Kitco News) - Gold Prices wereending the U.S. day session with scant gains Thursday. A continued erosion ofthe U.S. dollar in the foreign exchange markets worked to support the yellowmetal on this day. April Comex gold futures were last up $1.60 an ounce at$1,344.80. March Comex silver was last down $0.136 at $17.11 an ounce.

Therewas a very heavy dose of U.S. economic data released Thursday. However, thedata showed mixed results that had little impact on the marketplace, overall. Tradersand investors are looking ahead to Friday morning’s monthly U.S. employmentsituation report from the Labor Department. This is arguably the most importantU.S. data point of the month. The key non-farm payrolls number consensusforecast comes in at up 177,000.

TheU.S. stock market has been a bit wobbly this week, despite the major stockindexes hitting new record highs. If the stock market does start to show thatserious downside correction that is now way overdue, safe-haven gold and silvermarkets will see significant benefit. And it’s not a question of “if” the stockmarket will see a major downside correction, but “when.”

Thekey “outside markets” on Thursday saw the U.S. dollar index lower and not farabove the recent 3.5-year low. Meantime, Nymex crude oil prices were higher andtrading above $65.00 a barrel.

Technically,Aprilgold futures prices closed the day session near mid-range. The gold bullsstill have the overall near-term technical advantage, but need to show morepower soon to keep a six-week-old uptrend in place on the daily bar chart. Goldbulls' next upside near-term price breakout objective is to produce a close abovesolid technical resistance at the January high of $1,370.50. Bears' nextnear-term downside price breakout objective is pushing prices below solidtechnical support at $1,320.00. First resistance is seen at today’s high of$1,350.40 and then at this week’s high of $1,356.30. First support is seen atthis week’s low of $1,337.50 and then at $1,330.00. Wyckoff's Market Rating:6.5

March silver futures prices closed near the session low today. The silver bulls havethe slight overall near-term technical advantage, but need to show fresh powersoon to keep it. Silver bulls' next upside price breakout objective is closingprices above solid technical resistance at $18.00 an ounce. The next downsideprice breakout objective for the bears is closing prices below solid support atthe January low of $16.735. First resistance is seen at today’s high of $17.375and then at this week’s high of $17.47. Next support is seen at $17.00 and thenat $16.735. Wyckoff's Market Rating: 5.5.

March N.Y. copper closed up 145 points at 321.10 cents today. Prices closed nearerthe session high. The copper bulls have the overall near-term technicaladvantage. Copper bulls' next upside price objective is pushing and closingprices above solid technical resistance at the December high of 332.20 cents.The next downside price objective for the bears is closing prices below solidtechnical support at the January low of 310.80 cents. First resistance is seenat this week’s high of 323.55 cents and then at 325.00 cents. First support is seenat 317.70 cents and then at this week’s low of 315.20 cents. Wyckoff's MarketRating: 6.5.

By Jim Wyckoff

For Kitco News

Follow @jimwyckoffjwyckoff@kitco.comwww.kitco.com Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and may not reflect those of Kitco Metals Inc. The author has made every effort to ensure accuracy of information provided; however, neither Kitco Metals Inc. nor the author can guarantee such accuracy. This article is strictly for informational purposes only. It is not a solicitation to make any exchange in commodities, securities or other financial instruments. Kitco Metals Inc. and the author of this article do not accept culpability for losses and/ or damages arising from the use of this publication.

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