Gold Trading Sideways in Thin Holiday Trade

Gold prices are trading sideways in the Monday session. Currently, the spot price for an ounce of gold is 1347.25, down 0.02% on the day. There are no US releases on Monday, as bank and stock markets are closed for Presidents Day.

Volatility in the stock markets last week translated into gains for safe-haven assets such as gold. The base metal gained 2.3%, as nervous investors lost their appetite for risk. On Friday, gold lost ground but managed to briefly push above $1360, for the first time since late January. US fundamentals have been generally strong, pointing to a robust US economy. This has raised speculation of a quicker pace of rate hikes from the Fed, but gold has managed to hold its own against the US dollar, largely due to the recent stock market correction.

The US posted sharp housing and consumer confidence reports on Friday, but the dollar failed to make headway against the surging Japanese yen. Building Permits jumped to 1.40 million in January, up from 1.30 million in December. This easily beat the estimate of 1.29 million. Housing Starts followed suit and improved to 1.33 million in January, up from 1.19 million a month earlier. This was well above the forecast of 1.28 million. There was more positive news from consumer confidence, as UoM Consumer Confidence climbed to 99.9, well above the estimate of 95.4 points.

XAU/USD Fundamentals

Monday (February 19)

• There are no US events

XAU/USD for Monday, February 19, 2018

XAU/USD February 19 at 12:50 EST

Open: 1347.53 High: 1351.46 Low: 1345.82 Close: 1347.15

XAU/USD Technical

• XAU/USD posted small gains in the Asian session but retracted. The pair was flat in European trade and this continues in North American trade
• 1337 is supporting support
• 1375 is the next resistance line
• Current range: 1337 to 1375

Further levels in both directions:

• Below: 1337, 1307, 1285 and 1260
• Above: 1375, 1416 and 1433

OANDA’s Open Positions Ratio

On the Monday session, XAU/USD ratio is showing short positions with a majority (57%). This is indicative of trader bias towards XAU/USD breaking out and moving lower.

This article is for general information purposes only. It is not investment advice or a solution to buy or sell securities. Opinions are the authors; not necessarily that of OANDA Corporation or any of its affiliates, subsidiaries, officers or directors. Leveraged trading is high risk and not suitable for all. You could lose all of your deposited funds.