Crude Awaits Inventories Data, Gold Vulnerable To Renewed USD Momentum

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Talking Points

  • Gold and Silver Treading Water As The US Dollar Bulls Lose Steam

  • Crude Oil May Be Left Lacking Bullish Cues From Inventories Data

  • WTI Awaits A Close Below Nearby Support To Open Next Leg Lower

Most major commodities are treading water during the Asian session as the US dollar bulls take a breather. The upcoming Weekly Petroleum Status Report from the DOE may offer crude oil some guidance. Total inventories are tipped to rise for the second consecutive week. Alongside a parabolic increase in production revealed in recent reports WTI may be left looking elsewhere for bullish fundamental cues. Nonetheless, the extent of recent declines may have opened the door to some profit-taking on short positions, suggesting a corrective bounce should not be precluded.

Meanwhile, gold and silver may take some bearings from the direction of their pricing currency; the USD. Firming Fed policy normalization expectations have kept sentiment towards the greenback positive over the past month. While it may have lost some steam at the outset of the week the threshold for damaging policy bets and turning the tide against the USD appears high. This suggests it would likely take a material deterioration from upcoming US New Home Sales figures to lead the reserve currency lower. This in turn could keep pressure on gold and silver.

The latest developments in the Iraq conflict deserve to be monitored for their potential to bolster safe-haven buying of the alternative assets. Yet at this stage it appears it would take a material escalation of the turmoil to catalyze a recovery for gold and silver.

UPCOMING ECONOMIC EVENTS

Crude Awaits Inventories Data, Gold Vulnerable To Renewed USD Momentum
Crude Awaits Inventories Data, Gold Vulnerable To Renewed USD Momentum

Source:DailyFX Economic Calendar, Times In GMT

MARKET MOVEMENTS (TUESDAY 23, CLOSE: 5PM EST)

Energy

Open

High

Low

Close

$ Chg.

% Chg

US Oil

90.7

92.06

90.64

91.73

1.03

1.14%

UK Oil

96.86

97.56

96.53

96.90

0.04

0.04%

Metals

Open

High

Low

Close

$ Chg.

% Chg

Gold

1,214.75

1,235.54

1,214.13

1,223.09

8.34

0.69%

Silver

17.73

17.99

17.62

17.78

0.05

0.26%

Palladium

798.4

816.9

798.4

813.7

15.30

1.92%

Platinum

1,324.30

1,346.60

1,324.30

1,330.30

6.00

0.45%

Copper

3.04

3.063

3.03

3.031

(0.01)

-0.30%

CRUDE OIL TECHNICAL ANALYSIS

Crude remains at a critical juncture as it teases traders near the 90.20 barrier. Against the backdrop of a sustained downtrend a daily close below the noteworthy level would be seen as a fresh selling opportunity. This would pave the way for the next leg lower to the 2013 lows near 85.45. While a Bullish Engulfing pattern has presented itself, it requires confirmation from a successive up-period before suggesting the potential for a recovery.