Gold futures were slightly higher during early trade in Europe today. Monday saw massive losses for the precious metal, as traders look ahead to US retail sales later today. SPDR assets surged on Monday, while stocks also gained.
Gold futures for delivery in August traded for $1 309.4 per troy ounce at 8:25 GMT on the COMEX in New York today, up 0.21%. Daily high and low stood at $1 311.4 and $1 306.4 per troy ounce, respectively. The contract dropped 2.30% yesterday, after it added about 1.2% last week, when a three-month high of $1 346.8 per troy ounce was reached.
Meanwhile, silver contracts for September stood at $20.985 per troy ounce, for a gain of 0.34%. Daily high and low were at $21.025 peak, and $20.885 per troy ounce, respectively. The silver contract lost 2.55% on Monday, after adding about 1.5% last week, also reaching a four-month peak at $21.630 per troy ounce.
“Yellen’s testimony is potentially a source of more insight” into Fed policy, Sarah Xie, Hong Kong-based analyst at Wing Fung Financial Group Ltd., said for Bloomberg. “While there may be some buying on dips, gold will probably remain under pressure as equities rally, concern eases over Portugal’s banking problems and geopolitical tensions don’t worsen,” said Xie.
Janet Yellen, head of the Federal Reserve, will deliver her semi-annual monetary-policy testimony to the Senate and the House later today, as she explains monetary policy decisions.
The Feds last meeting, which took place some three weeks ago, resulted in decisions to keep the benchmark lending rate unchanged at 0.25%, while reducing assets purchases through its monetary stimulus program by another $10 billion to $35 billion a month, expressing limited confidence in the US economic recovery.
US reports
Retail sales for June are expected to log a 0.6% monthly gain, after the 0.3% growth in May, while core retail sales are projected to have added 0.5% on a monthly basis. Retail sales are a leading indicator of consumer spending, which generates about 80% of US GDP.
Later this week, industrial production and PPI for June will be posted on Wednesday, with expectations of slight gains in both. Thursday will see key housing data, with building permits and housing starts for June projected to stand for minor increases.
Stocks, dollar
US stocks gained on Monday, reversing most of last weeks losses, with all three major indices closing considerably higher. S&P 500 gained 0.48% as Wall Street trading closed on Monday, Dow 30 added 0.66%, while Nasdaq 100 was up 0.64%.
Meanwhile, assets at the SPDR Gold Trust – the largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, added more than 8 tons on Monday for to stand at 808.73 tons, to total some 25 tons in gains over the last month. Assets were recently pressured to multi-year lows by a recovering US economy.
The US Dollar Index, which measures the greenback’s performance against six other major currencies, dropped 0.02% on Monday, after some 0.15% were lost last week. By 8:10 GMT today the gauge was down 0.01% at 80.22.
Technical view
According to Binary Tribune’s daily analysis, in case Gold August futures on the COMEX manage to breach the first resistance level at $1 331.0, the contract will probably continue up to test $1 355.3. In case the second key resistance is broken, the precious metal will likely attempt to advance to $1 369.7.
If the contract manages to breach the first key support at $1 292.3, it will probably continue to slide and test $1 277.9. With this second key support broken, the movement to the downside may extend to $1 253.6.
Meanwhile, silver futures for September will see their first resistance level at $21.329. If it is breached, the contract will meet next resistance at $21.745, and then the third level at $21.959.
Silver will find its first support point at $20.699. Should it be breached, the second level of support is estimated at $20.485 and the third at $20.069.
TradingPedia.com is a financial media specialized in providing daily news and education covering Forex, equities and commodities. Our academies for traders cover 
