(Kitco News) - Nearby April Comex gold futures Thursday hit a 12-month high of $1,244.40 an ounce as of this writing, for a 12-month high. On a near-term technical basis the recent price action has been very impressive and very significantly bullish. Gold prices are now in an uptrend on the daily bar chart and there are no early technical clues to suggest a near-term market top is in place. In fact, the recent strong upside price action is inviting even more chart-based buyers to the long side of gold.
Importantly, let's take a longer-term technical view of gold to see where prices could be headed from here if the uptrend continues. An examination of the monthly continuation chart for nearby Comex gold futures shows that prices are still in a longer-term price downtrend--despite the recent strong upside price action. It will take a price move above longer-term chart resistance at the last "reaction high" in the longer-term downtrend seen on the monthly chart, to negate that downtrend. That last reaction high is at $1,307.80, basis nearby futures, which was scored in January of 2015. A push above that last reaction high on the monthly gold futures chart would then open up a price move to the 2014 high of $1,392.60, basis nearby Comex gold futures.
By Jim Wyckoff, contributing to Kitco News; jwyckoff@kitco.com