(Kitco News) - Gold prices are solid higher near midday Wednesday and December futures hit a record peak of $4,235.80 overnight. Silver prices are also sharply up today. Safe-haven demand and technical buying are featured at mid-week. December gold was last up $47.50 at $4,210.90. December silver prices were up $0.918 at $51.55.
Both metals are seeing safe-haven demand amid heightened U.S.-China trade tensions and the uncertainty of the U.S. government shutdown. The silver market is seeing a “short squeeze” amid very short supplies of the metal in London driving prices there significantly above those seen in New York. JP Morgan chief Jamie Dimon was asked about owning gold. “I’m not a gold buyer — it costs 4% to own it,” Dimon said Tuesday at Fortune’s Most Powerful Women conference in Washington. “It could easily go to $5,000, $10,000 in environments like this. This is one of the few times in my life it’s semi-rational to have some in your portfolio,” he said and as reported by Bloomberg.
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell on Tuesday also leaned easy on U.S. monetary policy, which is price-friendly for the precious metals. He said in a speech to an economics group that the Fed is on track to deliver another quarter-point interest-rate cut later this month. He pointed to the low pace of hiring and said the job sector may weaken further, adding that further declines in job openings might show up in the unemployment rate. The Fed is scheduled to meet Oct. 28-29. Powell said he and his colleagues are looking to alternative data sources due to the U.S. government shutdown, which is reducing their read on the U.S. economy.
The key outside markets today see the U.S. dollar index weaker. Crude oil prices are slightly down and trading around $58.25 a barrel. The yield on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note is presently 4.032%.
Technically, December gold futures bulls have the strong overall near-term technical advantage but may be getting near-term exhausted. Bulls’ next upside price objective is to produce a close above solid resistance at $4,300.00. Bears' next near-term downside price objective is pushing futures prices below solid technical support at $4,000.00. First resistance is seen at the overnight record high of $4,235.80 and then at $4,250.00. First support is seen at the overnight low of $4,157.30 and then at $4,100.00. Wyckoff's Market Rating: 9.5.
December silver futures bulls have the solid overall near-term technical advantage but now appear exhausted. Silver bulls' next upside price objective is closing prices above solid technical resistance at $55.00. The next downside price objective for the bears is closing prices below solid support at last week’s low of $46.70. First resistance is seen at the overnight high of $51.88 and then at the record high of $52.495. Next support is seen at the overnight low of $50.31 and then at $50.00. Wyckoff's Market Rating: 9.0.
(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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