(Kitco News) - Gold prices are near steady in midday U.S. trading Monday. Some mild some short-covering by futures traders and mild safe-haven buying ahead of key U.S. government spending events that occur late this week are being offset by gold’s bearish near-term technical posture. December gold futures were last up $0.40 at $1,752.20. December Comex silver was last up $0.265 at $22.69 an ounce.
Focus this week is on U.S. government spending. President Biden’s infrastructure package is set for a House of Representatives vote on Thursday, while the U.S. government’s funding will expire at midnight Thursday, which if not extended, would shut down part of the government Friday. Some anxiety in the market place could surface late this week if it appears the U.S. government could partly shut down.
In other news, European countries and China are experiencing energy shortages that are not expected to be resolved anytime soon. That suggests crude oil and natural gas prices will remain elevated for some time to come. That’s a bullish underlying element for much of the raw commodity sector, including the metals.
The key outside markets today see the U.S. dollar index slightly firmer. Nymex crude oil futures prices are higher, at a three-year high, and trading around $75.40 a barrel. That’s also bullish for the metals. The 10-year U.S. Treasury note yield is presently fetching 1.446%. Recent rising bond yields are bearish for safe-haven gold and silver.
![Live 24 hours gold chart [Kitco Inc.]](https://www.kitco.com/images/live/gold.gif?0.2924175530478188){kind=small}
Technically, December gold futures bears have the overall near-term technical advantage. A three-week-old price downtrend is in place on the daily bar chart. Bulls’ next upside price objective is to produce a close above solid resistance at last week’s high of $1,788.40. Bears' next near-term downside price objective is pushing futures prices below solid technical support at $1,700.00. First resistance is seen at today’s high of $1,760.90 and then at $1,775.00. First support is seen at the September low of $1,737.50 and then at $1,730.00. Wyckoff's Market Rating: 4.0
![Live 24 hours silver chart [ Kitco Inc. ]](https://www.kitco.com/images/live/silver.gif)
December silver futures bears have the solid overall near-term technical advantage. Prices are in a three-week-old downtrend on the daily bar chart. Silver bulls' next upside price objective is closing prices above solid technical resistance at $24.00 an ounce. The next downside price objective for the bears is closing prices below solid support at $21.00. First resistance is seen at $23.00 and then at last week’s high of $23.15. Next support is seen at today’s low of $22.39 and then at the September low of $22.025. Wyckoff's Market Rating: 2.0.
December N.Y. copper closed up 20 points at 428.25 cents today. Prices closed near mid-range today. The copper bulls and bears are on a level overall near-term technical playing field. Copper bulls' next upside price objective is pushing and closing prices above solid technical resistance at the September high of 447.15 cents. The next downside price objective for the bears is closing prices below solid technical support at the August low of 396.65 cents. First resistance is seen at today’s high of 431.75 cents and then at 435.00 cents. First support is seen at 420.00 cents and then at 415.00 cents. Wyckoff's Market Rating: 5.0.
