Gold and silver improve as Fed’s Powell looks at monetary policy

Editor’s Note: With such market volatility, stay on top of the daily news! In minutes, discover our quick summary of today’s must-see news and expert opinions. Register here !

(Kitco News) – Gold and silver prices are higher on Wednesday at noon, with gold hitting a three-week high. The market is focusing midweek on Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell’s testimony before a House of Representatives committee today on US monetary policy and the economy. Powell leaned a bit on US monetary policy, saying the Fed is still a long way from cutting its bond buying program (quantitative easing) and reiterated that rising inflationary pressures are likely only transitory. His prepared remarks pushed the gold and silver markets to their daily highs in the morning stock, and also pushed the US dollar index lower. August gold futures were up $ 12.70 to $ 1,822.70 and September Comex silver was up $ 0.09 to $ 26.23 an ounce.

Speaking of inflation, the US producer price index for June released this morning was up 1.0% from May, beating expectations by 0.6%. The higher number in today’s PPI report came as no surprise to many and had little impact on market prices. On Tuesday, the U.S. consumer price index rose 5.4% in June, year-on-year, the hottest in 13 years. Many believe that the Federal Reserve is currently behind on its inflation expectations.

Global equity markets were for the most part weaker overnight. The US stock indices are a little firmer by midday. Global markets are starting to pay more attention to the new variant of Covid-19 which is spreading to parts of the world, including the United States, and is starting to threaten some regional economies.

Major foreign markets are now seeing the US dollar index drop on Powell’s conciliatory text, while Nymex crude oil prices are lower and trading around $ 73.65 per barrel. OPEC and the UAE have reportedly agreed on a solution to their dispute and the oil market apparently sees it as neutral or a little bearish. The yield on 10-year US Treasuries is currently 1.36%.

Technically, gold bulls have the overall technical advantage in the short term and have gained a bit more power today. An incipient upward price trend is in place on the daily bar chart. The Bulls’ next bullish price target is to produce a close above the solid resistance at $ 1,850.00. The bears’ next short-term bearish price target is pushing futures prices below strong technical support to this week’s low of $ 1,791.00. First resistance is seen at today’s high at $ 1,831.10 and then $ 1,840.00. First support is seen at today’s low at $ 1,804.90 and then $ 1,800.00. Wyckoff Market Score: 6.0

Bulls and silver bears are on a technical par in the short term. The next bullish price target for Silver Bulls is to close the price above strong technical resistance at $ 27.00 an ounce. The next bearish price target for the bears is to close price below strong support at $ 25.00. First resistance is seen at today’s high of $ 26,575 and then the July high of $ 26.91. Next support is seen at $ 26.00, then last week’s low of $ 25.82. Wyckoff Market Rating: 5.0.

September NY copper closed 435 points lower at 426.30 cents today. Prices closed near the low for the session today. Copper bulls have the slight overall technical advantage in the short term. The next bullish price target for copper buyers is to push and close the price above strong technical resistance at 450.00 cents. The next bearish price target for the bears is to close prices below solid technical support at 400.00 cents. First resistance is seen at this week’s high of 436.40 cents, followed by July high of 440.25 cents. First support is seen at July low at 422.65 cents, then 420.00 cents. Wyckoff Market Score: 5.5.