Gold prices are lower in early trading Tuesday, on more profit-taking pressure and chart consolidation from recent gains that saw prices hit a six-month high Monday. This type of “backing and filling” of prices on the daily chart is not surprising and the gold market bulls still possess the near-term technical advantage. The markets are so far are digesting well the news that Crimea will soon become part of Russia, which is at present a bearish underlying factor for safe-haven gold. April gold was last down $14.30 at $1,358.60 an ounce. Spot gold was last quoted down $9.30 at $1,358.75. May Comex silver last traded down $0.33 at $20.945 an ounce.

The referendum Sunday that saw Crimean voters overwhelmingly choose to secede from Ukraine and be annexed by Russia was not met by violence in the Ukraine, at least not yet. Also, the threatened U.S. and European Union sanctions have so far not been as tough as some expected. These developments assuaged the market place Monday. On Tuesday traders and investors are just a bit more risk-averse in their trading decisions. Russian president Vladimir Putin was delivering a speech to the Russian parliament as of this writing. The gold market sold off a bit more and stock indexes firmed a bit when he reportedly said Russia will not seek to annex other regions of Asia, after it has annexed Crimea. This situation is still far from stable. Any escalation of tensions in Ukraine would quickly put keen risk-aversion back into the market place. The market place will continue to closely monitor the latest developments in the Ukraine.

Focus of the market place turns to this week’s meeting of the U.S. Federal Reserve’s Open Market Committee (FOMC), taking place Tuesday and Wednesday. Fed Chair Janet Yellen will deliver her first press conference after the FOMC meeting’s conclusion Wednesday afternoon. It is expected the FOMC will continue on its “tapering” program, whereby monthly bond purchases are whittled down by $10 billion a month. Recent U.S. economic data has been a mixed bag, which is making it tougher for the market place to read what the Fed’s intentions might be.

U.S. economic data due for release Tuesday includes the weekly Goldman Sachs and Johnson Redbook retail sales reports, the consumer price index, real earnings, new residential construction and building permits, and the FOMC meeting begins. A major snowstorm in Washington, D.C. Monday could delay some of this data.

Wyckoff’s Daily Risk Rating: 6.0 (The Ukraine situation has for the moment de-escalated and has become a tertiary market factor. That could change this week, however.)

(Wyckoff’s Daily Risk Rating is your way to quickly gauge investor risk appetite in the world market place each day. Each day I assess the “risk-on” or “risk-off” trader mentality in the market place with a numerical reading of 1 to 10, with 1 being least risk-averse (most risk-on) and 10 being the most risk-averse (risk-off), and 5 being neutral.

The London A.M. gold fix is $1,362.50 versus the P.M. fixing of $1,378.50.

Technically, April gold futures prices are still in a 2.5-month-old uptrend on the daily bar chart and seeing a corrective pullback after hitting a six-month high Monday. The gold still bulls have the overall near-term technical advantage. Bulls’ next upside near-term price breakout objective is to produce a close above technical resistance at $1,400.00. Bears' next near-term downside breakout price objective is closing prices below technical support at $1,355.00. First resistance is seen at the overnight high of $1,367.90 and then at $1,375.00. First support is seen at the overnight low of $1,357.20 and then at $1,355.00.  

May silver futures bears have the slight near-term technical advantage. Silver bulls’ next upside price breakout objective is closing prices above solid technical resistance at the March high of $21.74 an ounce. The next downside price breakout objective for the bears is closing prices below solid technical support at the March low of $20.61. First resistance is seen at the overnight high of $21.25 and then at $21.50. Next support is seen at $20.75 and then at $20.61.

• Wall Street all in on further gains for gold, Main Street grows more bullish for next week’s price action   (2024-10-19 10:12:59)
• Gold shines as ultimate safe-haven asset, set to hit $3,000/oz by 2025 – Bank of America   (2024-10-19 10:07:32)
• Gold and silver to rally through the end of 2024, copper likely to lag – Prosper’s Scott Bauer   (2024-08-15 06:23:01)
• Wall Street experts see gold gaining on renewed recession fears, Main Street bullishness not far behind   (2024-08-04 16:15:53)
• Phố Wall chứng kiến ​​đà tăng giá vàng mới vào tuần tới, tâm lý lạc quan của Phố Main tăng lên   (2024-07-27 17:29:24)
• Wall Street sees renewed momentum for gold prices next week, Main Street’s bullish sentiment increases   (2024-07-27 17:26:59)
• Wall Street is balanced and cautious on gold next week, Main Street remains optimistic about price gains   (2024-07-20 08:49:41)
• September rate cut and Trump policies are boosting gold demand – FX Empire’s Ali   (2024-07-19 05:12:10)
• Gold price will average $2,500 per ounce in Q4 2024 as bull case remains intact despite sharp gains – JPMorgan   (2024-07-18 11:18:51)
• Wall Street sees green lights for gold next week; Main Street jumps back on the bullish bandwagon   (2024-07-06 04:25:55)