(Kitco News) - Gold prices are modestly up and silver prices are strongly higher in early U.S. trading Friday. Confident bulls continue to step in and buy the dips, amid risk aversion that is still elevated in the marketplace, which is prompting safe-haven demand for the precious metals. February gold was last down $28.00 at $4,435.00. March silver prices were down $2.758 at $74.86.
It’s jobs Friday, and maybe more. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg anticipate that 70,000 new positions in the U.S. labor market were added in December, slightly higher than the prior month, while the unemployment rate is expected to fall to 4.5%. Markets at present have priced in at least two quarter-point Fed interest rate cuts in 2026, with odds favoring the first cut coming in April. “The market is hoping for the jobs data to land on the fairway. Too much job creation would hint the economy is getting hot, while a number close to zero would point, in contrast, to a slump,” said David Kruk, head of trading at La Financiere de l’Echiquier. “Neither option is good,” he said and as reported by Bloomberg. As the dust settles from the 7:30 a.m. CST jobs report, traders will then be on high alert for the possible release as soon as mid-morning of a ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court on the legality of President Trump’s tariffs. An opinion against the tariffs, which have generated hundreds of billions of dollars in revenue and eased pressure on the U.S. budget deficit, could roil the U.S. stock and financial markets.
Rio Tinto and Glencore confirmed they’re in preliminary talks on a potential merger that would create the world’s biggest mining company. The talks come a little over a year after earlier discussions between the two companies collapsed. The deal could be worth around $207 billion.
Trump cancels second wave of attacks on Venezuela. President Trump today said a second wave of attacks on Venezuela has been canceled, citing improved cooperation from the country, Bloomberg reported. Venezuela is “working well” with the U.S. on rebuilding its oil and gas infrastructure and releasing “large numbers” of political prisoners, Trump wrote in a social-media post on Truth Social early today. That means another wave of strikes doesn’t appear necessary, he said. Trump is meeting with U.S. oil executives later today as his administration pushes them to rebuild Venezuela’s energy sector. The U.S. military activity in the region may not be over, though. Trump said on Thursday that strikes were being prepared against drug cartel facilities, just days after he ordered an operation to capture Venezuelan strongman Nicolas Maduro.
Civil unrest in Iran intensifies. Iran’s supreme leader signaled Friday that security forces would crack down on protesters after they screamed from windows and marched through the streets overnight, directly challenging President Trump’s pledge to support those peacefully demonstrating. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei dismissed Trump as having hands “stained with the blood of Iranians” as supporters shouted “Death to America!” in footage aired by Iranian state television, the Associated Press reported. Protesters are “ruining their own streets to make the president of another country happy,” Khamenei said, referring to Trump. There was no immediate response from Washington, though Trump reiterated his pledge to strike Iran if protesters are killed. Despite Iran’s theocracy cutting off the nation from the internet and international telephone calls, short online videos shared by activists purported to show protesters chanting against Iran’s government around bonfires as debris littered the streets in the capital, Tehran, and other areas into Friday morning. Iranian state media alleged “terrorist agents” of the U.S. and Israel set fires and sparked violence. It also said there were “casualties,” without elaborating.
Russia launches rare and powerful missiles to strike western Ukraine, alarming Europe. Russia carried out an air strike near Ukraine’s western border with an intermediate-range ballistic missile known as Oreshnik, sending a threatening signal to Kyiv’s allies amid a widespread air attack that targeted Ukraine’s energy infrastructure and damaged apartment buildings. The Russian Defense Ministry said it launched a “massive strike with high-precision, long-range, land- and sea-based weapons, including the Oreshnik,” against critical targets, according to a statement on Telegram Friday and as reported by Bloomberg. Ukraine’s military said the attack targeted infrastructure in the western city of Lviv, about 37 miles from the border with Poland, using a ballistic missile, while President Volodymyr Zelenskiy later confirmed Russia fired its Oreshnik weapon in a statement on X. “Such a strike close to EU and NATO border is a grave threat to the security on the European continent and a test for the transatlantic community,” Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said on X. “This is truly a global threat. And it demands global responses.” The unusual strike with the new nuclear-capable missile was a reminder of Moscow’s readiness to brandish some of its most powerful weapons in the war — even as US President Donald Trump presses his effort to bring an end to the conflict, said the Bloomberg report. “The choice of a projectile that may have a range of 3,110 miles, putting most of Europe and the U.S. West Coast within striking distance for Russia, sends a stark warning to Kyiv and its backers as the Kremlin continues to stand by maximalist demands in the negotiations,” said the report. Russia only ever launched an Oreshnik missile against Ukraine once before, in November 2024, striking the country’s fourth-largest city, Dnipro. As with that strike, the attack in Lviv appeared to be mostly symbolic.
The key outside markets today see the U.S. dollar index slightly firmer and at a four-week high. Crude oil prices are firmer and trading around $58.25 a barrel. The yield on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note is presently 4.19%.
Note: The gold market operates through two primary pricing mechanisms. The first is the spot market, which quotes prices for on-the-spot purchase and immediate delivery. The second is the futures market, which sets prices for delivery at a future date. Due to year-end positioning market liquidity, the December gold futures contract is currently the most actively traded on the CME.
Technically, February gold futures bulls’ next upside price objective is to produce a close above solid resistance at the contract/record high of $4,584.00. Bears' next near-term downside price objective is pushing futures prices below solid technical support at $4,284.30. First resistance is seen at $4,500.00 and then at this week’s high of $4,512.40. First support is seen at $4,415.00 and then at $4,400.00. Wyckoff's Market Rating: 7.5.
March silver futures see this week’s price action raising the specter of a bearish double-top reversal pattern forming on the daily bar chart. The bulls’ next upside price objective is closing prices above solid technical resistance at the record high of $82.67. The next downside price objective for the bears is closing prices below solid support at last week’s low of $69.225. First resistance is seen at Thursday’s high of $78.90 and then at $80.00. Next support is seen at the overnight low of $75.15 and then at $74.00. Wyckoff's Market Rating: 7.5.
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