(Kitco News) - Gold prices are higher in midday U.S. trading Monday, with December gold futures hitting a new contract/record high of $4,014.60 an ounce. Safe-haven bids are keeping the yellow metal elevated. Silver prices are sharply down on profit taking after hitting a 14-year high Monday. December gold was last up $23.50 at $3,999.30. December silver prices were down $0.763 at $47.685.
The U.S. government shutdown, political turmoil in France, economic worries in Japan and Argentina and the Russia-Ukraine war that is still running hot are all bullish geopolitical elements that are driving safe-haven demand to the precious metals. Also, major industrialized countries are stocking up more on (hoarding) precious metals.
The key outside markets today see the U.S. dollar index up again, while crude oil prices are near steady and trading around $61.75 a barrel. The yield on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note is presently around 4.15%.
Technically, December gold futures bulls have the strong overall near-term technical advantage. Bulls’ next upside price objective is to produce a close above solid resistance at $4,000.00. Bears' next near-term downside price objective is pushing futures prices below solid technical support at $3,750.00. First resistance is seen at today’s record high of $4,014.60 and then at $4,050.00. First support is seen at the overnight low of $3,963.40 and then at $3,950.00. Wyckoff's Market Rating: 9.5.
December silver futures bulls have the solid overall near-term technical advantage. Silver bulls' next upside price objective is closing prices above solid technical resistance at $50.00. The next downside price objective for the bears is closing prices below solid support at $45.00. First resistance is seen at $48.00 and then at this week’s high of $48.61. Next support is seen at the overnight low of $47.52 and then at $47.00. Wyckoff's Market Rating: 8.0.
(Hey! My “Markets Front Burner” weekly email report is my best writing and analysis, I think, because I get to look ahead at the marketplace and do some market price forecasting. Plus, Gold prices are sharply up in early U.S. trading Monday and hit another record high. Silver prices are also up and notched another 14-year high. The powerful but mature bull market runs in gold and silver are accelerating. That’s one early clue that from a time perspective, major market tops could come sooner rather than later. However, from a price perspective, there still could be much more room on the upside for gold and silver prices during this acceleration phase of the mature bull markets, before they peter out for a while. December gold was last up $40.80 at $3,815.90. December silver prices were up $0.361 at $44.575.
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