(Kitco News) - With U.S. markets closed Thursday and open half a day Friday for the Thanksgiving long weekend, the gold market is looking to end the week quietly above $1,750 an ounce.
According to some analysts, gold and silver continue to benefit from shifting expectations that the Federal Reserve will slow the pace of its aggressive rate hikes starting next month.
Futures markets are closed today, but spot gold continues to trade with prices currently at $1,756.90 an ounce, up 0.39% on the day. The silver market is slightly weaker, last trading at $21.513 an ounce, down 0.23% on the day.
Although growing fears of a global recession continue to support gold prices, many analysts have said that they don't expect to see any significant moves in the next two days before the long weekend.
"With four World Cup games and three NFL games on today, news is likely to be dominated more by football scores than corporate or economic events," said Colin Cieszynski, chief market strategist at SIA Wealth Management. "Tomorrow, investors may look to Black Friday mall traffic reports for insights into consumer holiday spending."
Gold's move back above $1,750 started Wednesday after the Federal Reserve signaled in the minutes of the November monetary policy meeting that it would slow the pace of rate hikes beginning in December. However, markets were already pricing in a 50-basis point move well ahead of the minutes.
"All considered, it hasn't been the most lively of weeks, but the FOMC minutes did ensure investors went into the Thanksgiving break on a bit of a high," said Craig Erlam, senior U.K. and European market analyst at OANDA.
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| Gold prices should be closer to $1,614 than $1,750 - Quant Insight |
While gold prices look to end the week on solid footing, some analysts have noted that there is still a lack of bullish interest to drive prices higher. Manish Jaradi, strategist at DailyFX, said in a note that although gold's push above $1,730 broke its month's long downtrend, it hasn't generated enough momentum yet to break through resistance at $1,800.
"Short-term dynamics point to a ranging scenario. It remains unclear if the rebound this month is a precursor to a reversal (of the downtrend) or a corrective rally, given the steep losses this year. In the context of a multi-week picture, the trend remains down," he said.
Ole Hansen, head of commodity strategy at Saxo Bank, said that the gold market needs a new catalyst to break initial resistance between $1,757 and $1,765.
"With no signs yet of a pickup in demand for ETFs from longer-term focused investors, a further extension will likely require further declines in yields and the U.S. dollar or some other catalyst that sees a run to safety," he said.
