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TECHNICAL OUTLOOK FOR METALS AND CRUDE OIL


GOLD
Gold recovers further to 1116 so far and is now pressing 4 hours 55 EMA. But still, another fall cannot ruled out with 1119.5 resistance intact. Nevertheless, note that as long as 1088.4 support holds, rise from 1044.5 is still expected to continue. Above 1119.5 minor resistance will flip intraday back to the upside for retesting 1145.8. Break will target 1163 resistance next. However, sustained break of 1088.5 will indicate that whole rise from 1044.5 is completed and will turn outlook bearish for another fall towards this low.

In the bigger picture, price actions from 1227.5 are treated as correction to rise from 931.3 only and might have completed at 1044.5 already after being supported by 61.8% retracement of 931.3 to 1227.5 at 1044.4. Strong break of 1163 resistance will further affirm this case. On rally resumption, next medium term target will be 100% projection of 931.3 to 1227.5 from 1044.5 at 1340.7. On the downside, break of 1088.5 support will in turn argue that correction from 1227.5 would extend further before completion

SILVER
No change in silver's outlook as it's bounded in tight range below 1.7665. Intraday bias remains neutral and another fall could be seen to trend line support (now at 16.42) as correction from 17.665 continues. Note that rise from 14.65 is still expected to continue as long as 15.61 support holds. Above 17.665 will target 161.8% projection of 14.65 to 16.56 from 15.61 at 18.708. However, note that firm break of 15.61 support will indicate that rise from 14.65 has completed. The three wave structure will revive that case that recent fall from 19.50 is still in progress for another low below 14.65.

In the bigger picture, as silver is still trading well above medium term rising trend line, rally from 8.4 might not be over yet. Fall from 19.50 might be just a correction that's completed with three waves down to 14.65. Hence, above high above 19.50 could be seen. Nevertheless, there is no change in the broader view that medium term rise from 8.4 is merely part of the whole consolidation pattern that started at 21.44 (2008 high). Hence, even in case of a new high above 19.50, we'd continue to look for reversal signal as silver enters into 19.55/21.44 resistance zone. On the downside, break of 15.61 support though, will revive the bearish case that silver has already topped out and will turn focus back to medium term trend line support instead.

CRUDE OIL
Crude oil's break of 80.61 support indicates that a short term top is already formed at 83.16 on bearish divergence condition in 4 hours MACD. Deeper decline should be seen to 38.2% retracement of 69.50 to 83.16 at 77.94 next and break will target 6.18% retracement at 74.72. On the upside, in case of recovery, break of 83.16 is needed to confirm rally resumption. Otherwise, we'd expect another fall as correction from 83.16 extends.

In the bigger picture, crude oil is still trading well inside medium term rising channel and the rise from 33.2 might still be in progress. Nevertheless, as such rise from 33.2 is treated as a correction to whole decline from 147.27 only, even in case of another high above 83.95, we'd continue to expect strong resistance near to 50% retracement of 147.27 to 33.2 at 90.24 to bring reversal. On the downside, though, break of 69.50 support will now indicate that crude oil has topped out in medium term already and turn outlook bearish.


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REPORT ON METALS


Precious metals remain firm in European session as USD weakens and interest rates should stay low in advanced economies for some more time. Benchmark contracts for gold and silver rise for the third consecutive day, the longest winning streak in a month, to 1133 and 17.55, respectively.

The Fed's statement sent the market a signal that interest rates will stay low in the medium-term. The 10-year Treasury yield fell to 3.64%, the lowest level in a week. Lower bond yield benefits gold and it reduces the opportunity cost to invest in the yellow metal. In Japan, the BOJ voted unanimously to keep the unsecured overnight rate at near 0.1% and decided at the split 5:2-vote to double the size of the funding operations, launched last December, to 20 trillion yen. While market reaction was not too vigorous, the reinforced low-rate environment supports gold.

Platinum stays steadily in the uptrend and current price at 1639 is the highest level since January 20, while palladium extends gains to 478, just a few dollars below the decade-high. Further price hikes are likely given strong fundamentals and robust investment demands. In the fundamentals news, Eskom, the state-owned power and utility company in South Africa, said that power supply could become a major concern from 2011. Power shortage issue will be worsened by the World Cup which begins in June. South Africa is responsible for around 80% of platinum production and 35% of palladium production in the world. Supply constraints should exacerbate the PGM market which is expected to tighten as demand from automakers rebounds.

Crude oil advances to 82.5 with OPEC's decision to keep production quotas unchanged priced in. Oil ministers seemed to be satisfied with current price level. Ali al-Naimi, Saudi Arabia's oil minister, said that the market is having 'good demand, reliable supply and beautiful prices'. Other member countries including Iran and Venezuela also believed there's no need to adjust output.

The dollar's weakness is broadly based except against the yen. What's eye-catching today is the GDPUSD which rallies to 1.538, the highest level in a month, after stunning employment data. Claimant count surprisingly dropped -32.3K in February, translating into a lower rate of 4.9%. The market had anticipated the Claimant rate to stay flat at 5%. The 3-month average ILO unemployment rate was flat in January, compared with forecast of a rise to 7.9%.





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