Gold and silver prices are experiencing little change in early U.S. trading as investors eagerly await the annual Federal Reserve symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. This meeting often produces market-sensitive news, particularly from comments made by Fed Chair Jerome Powell. Powell is scheduled to speak at the conference on Friday morning, and his remarks are expected to have a significant impact on the markets, including gold and silver. In overnight trading, Asian stock markets were mostly weaker, while European stock markets were mostly firmer. U.S. stock indexes are expected to open higher.
In terms of outside markets, the U.S. dollar index slightly strengthened, reaching a 5.5-month high overnight. Nymex crude oil futures prices are higher, trading around $80.00 a barrel. The benchmark U.S. Treasury 10-year note is currently fetching 4.253%. U.S. economic data to be released on Friday includes the University of Michigan consumer sentiment survey.
From a technical standpoint, bears still hold the near-term advantage in gold futures. However, a four-week-long downtrend on the daily bar chart has been invalidated. The next upside price objective for bulls is to close December futures above solid resistance at $1,980.00. On the other hand, bears’ next downside price objective is to push futures prices below the strong technical support level of $1,900.00. For silver, the bulls currently have the overall near-term technical advantage and momentum. There is also a budding price uptrend in place on the daily chart. The next upside price objective for silver bulls is to close September futures above solid technical resistance at $25.475.
In conclusion, the precious metals market is closely watching the Federal Reserve symposium for any market-moving news. Gold and silver prices are expected to be volatile following Jerome Powell’s speech. While bears still have the near-term advantage in gold, the downtrend has been broken. In contrast, silver bulls maintain the upper hand and have a price uptrend in motion.