Gold futures consolidate forming a base at recent highs above $2030
The solid breakout that moved gold futures above $2000 to a high of $2043 yesterday, and $2049.20 today indicates a new level of support well above $2000 per ounce.
Currently, the most active June 2023 futures contract is fixed at $2037.10 a net decline of $1.1 or 0.05%. The fact that gold did not immediately sell off as it has in the past after hitting the highest price since gold hit $2077 last year indicates strong bullish market sentiment that continues to drive gold higher and more importantly hold those recent high prices.
Today’s fractional decline occurs with dollar strength which indicates that there are still traders bidding the precious metal higher although not enough to take gold futures higher on the day.
The same cannot be said for spot gold which is currently fixed at $2020 which is a net gain of $0.30. According to the Kitco Gold Index (KGX), today’s spot prices are a combination of investors bidding spot gold higher by $6.60 coupled with dollar strength taking gold lower by $6.30, thereby creating a fractional gain of $0.30. The dollar is currently up 0.30% and the index is fixed at 101.57.
The force that propelled gold well above $2000 yesterday was weaker U.S. economic data. The data suggested that the Federal Reserve could certainly consider slower rate hikes and a pause of rate hikes sooner. According to the CME’s FedWatch tool, there is a 55.9% probability that the Federal Reserve will not raise rates at the May FOMC meeting and begin to pause raising rates as they assess whether their former rate hikes indicate that their actions have put inflation on a firm trajectory towards their target of 2%.
The next key event that will shape the Federal Reserve’s decision will be Friday’s jobs report. This is because the Federal Reserve is laser-focused on the extremely robust labor market as a strong higher inflationary component.
On a technical basis, there is no resistance until $2069 the highest closing price for gold futures on record. With a short-term bias, you can use today’s low of $2026 as a potential solid support level.
By
Gary Wagner
Contributing to kitco.com
David