Gold, silver see mild profit-taking pressure Monday

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(Kitco News) -Gold and silver prices are modestly lower in midday U.S. trading Monday. Gold didpoke to another five-month high early on. Some normal profit taking was seen bythe shorter-term futures traders was featured today, following recent good pricegains. Gold and silver bulls remain in technical control amid near-term priceuptrends firmly in place. Fears of rising inflationary pressures will likelycontinue to drive new buying interest into the hard-asset precious metals.December gold was last down $3.10 at $1,865.40 and December Comex silver waslast down $0.241 at $25.105 an ounce.

Globalstock markets mostly up in overnight trading. The U.S. stock indexes are a bitweaker at midday. Traders and investors are weighing the bullish aspect ofupbeat third-quarter corporate earnings reports versus the bearish implicationsof rising inflationary pressures.

Anotherworrisome element in the marketplace is rising Covid-19 cases in China andparts of Europe. Some countries are again imposing business and publicrestrictions, which could crimp economic growth.

Thekey outside markets today see the U.S. dollar index a bit weaker after hittinga 15-month high on Friday. Nymex crude oil prices are lower and trading around$79.75 a barrel. The crude oil market bulls appear to have run out of gas and amarket top could be in place. Meantime, the 10-year U.S. Treasury note yield rosetoday and is presently fetching 1.613%.

U.S.economic data was light Monday but the pace picks up speed rapidly on Tuesday.

Technically, December gold futures bulls have thefirm overall near-term technical advantage. Prices are in a six-week-old uptrendon the daily bar chart. Bulls' next upside price objective is to produce aclose above solid resistance at $1,900.00. Bears' next near-term downside priceobjective is pushing futures prices below solid technical support at $1,800.00.First resistance is seen at today's high of $1,873.00 and then at $1,885.00.First support is seen at $1,850.00 and then at $1,845.10. Wyckoff's MarketRating: 7.0.

December silver futures pricesFriday hit a three-month high and mild profit taking was seen today. The silverbulls have the overall near-term technical advantage amid a six-week-old uptrendin place on the daily bar chart. Silver bulls' next upside price objective isclosing prices above solid technical resistance at $26.13 an ounce. The nextdownside price objective for the bears is closing prices below solid support atthe November low of $23.045. First resistance is seen at last week's high of$25.47 and then at $25.75. Next support is seen at $24.645 and then at $24.00.Wyckoff's Market Rating: 6.0.

December N.Y. copper closed down 355 points at441.40 cents today. Prices closed nearer the session low today. The copperbulls have the slight overall near-term technical advantage. A bullishrounding-bottom reversal pattern has formed on the daily bar chart. Copperbulls' next upside price objective is pushing and closing prices above solidtechnical resistance at 460.00 cents. The next downside price objective for thebears is closing prices below solid technical support at 420.00 cents. Firstresistance is seen at today's high of 448.90 cents and then at 450.00 cents.First support is seen at 435.00 cents and then at 430.00 cents. Wyckoff'sMarket Rating: 5.5.

By Jim Wyckoff

For Kitco News

Follow @jimwyckoffjwyckoff@kitco.comwww.kitco.com Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and may not reflect those of Kitco Metals Inc. The author has made every effort to ensure accuracy of information provided; however, neither Kitco Metals Inc. nor the author can guarantee such accuracy. This article is strictly for informational purposes only. It is not a solicitation to make any exchange in commodities, securities or other financial instruments. Kitco Metals Inc. and the author of this article do not accept culpability for losses and/ or damages arising from the use of this publication.

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