On Tuesday gold for delivery in April traded within the range of $1,229.00-$1,248.40. Futures closed at $1,232.70, edging down 0.10% on a daily basis. It has been the 9th drop in the past 22 trading days. The daily high has been the highest price level since February 24th, when the commodity recorded a high of $1,250.10 per troy ounce. The precious metal has slumped 0.30% so far during the current month, following a 10.52% surge in February. The latter has been the sharpest monthly gain since January 2012, when the commodity added 10.98% to its value.
On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold futures for delivery in April were edging down 0.20% on Wednesday to trade at $1,230.20 per troy ounce. The precious metal went up as high as $1,233.60 during the early phase of the Asian trading session, while the current daily low was at $1,225.40 per troy ounce, recorded during mid-Asian trade.
Gold neutralized recent gains, after on Tuesday the Institute for Supply Management said that its benchmark of manufacturing activity in the United States improved more than projected in February. The Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index rose to 49.5 last month from 48.2 in January. Yet, the index remained in the area pointing to activity contraction for a fourth straight month in February. The sub-index of New Orders remained flat at 51.5 in February, while the gauges of employment and production advanced to 48.5 and 52.8, respectively.
Today gold trading may be influenced by the monthly report on US employment growth, released by Automated Data Processing Inc. (ADP). Employers in the US non-farm private sector probably added 185 000 new jobs during February, according to the median estimate by experts, following 205 000 new positions added in January. If expectations were met, this would be the slowest gain in jobs since October 2015, when 182 000 positions were added. In case new jobs growth came below expectations last month, this would have a moderate-to-strong bearish effect on the US dollar and a strong bullish effect on gold, respectively. The official report, which usually comes out two days ahead of the government data, is due out at 13:15 GMT.
Meanwhile, silver futures for delivery in March were edging up 0.24% on the day to trade at $14.875 per troy ounce, after climbing as high as $14.885 during early European trade.
Daily and Weekly Pivot Levels
By employing the traditional calculation method, the daily pivot levels for gold are presented as follows:
Central Pivot Point – $1,236.70
R1 – $1,244.40
R2 – $1,256.10
R3 – $1,263.80
S1 – $1,225.00
S2 – $1,217.30
S3 – $1,205.60
By using the traditional method of calculation again, the weekly pivot levels for gold are presented as follows:
Central Pivot Point – $1,224.30
R1 – $1,245.60
R2 – $1,271.40
R3 – $1,292.70
S1 – $1,198.50
S2 – $1,177.20
S3 – $1,151.40
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