INTLFCStone looks for a stronger U.S. dollar to weigh on gold during April.Analysts forecast that the greenback will benefit as the Trump administrationbacks away from starting a trade war. Further, the European Central Bank andBank of Japan are likely to remain “sidelined” on tightening monetary policy,further underpinning the dollar, analysts say. “A stronger dollar and anexpected de-escalation in trade tensions should weigh on gold over the courseof April and we see the precious metal testing its 2018 low of $1,304, but holdingthat critical support level,” analysts say in a monthly commodities outlook.“Silver could do somewhat better than gold in April, as proponents of thegold-silver ratio are pointing out that the ratio is now close to a three-yearhigh of around 80.” Meanwhile, analysts look for platinum group metals to movehigher during the month, rebounding in sympathy with a firmer base-metalscomplex.
By Allen Sykoraof Kitco News; asykora@kitco.com
Tuesday April 03, 2018 08:20
Gold haseased on profit-taking in early trading Tuesday but is likely to remainunderpinned in the near term due to worries about a trade war between the U.S.and China, says Lukman Otunuga, research analyst at FXTM.He says some investors opted to lock in profits after the metal hadpoked above chart resistance around $1,340 an ounce. As of 8:16 a.m. EDT, spotgold was down $1.75 to $1,339.55 an ounce after nearly hitting $1,345 onMonday. “With escalating trade tensions between the U.S and China sparking riskaversion, punishing global equity markets and weakening the dollar, gold couldremain heavily supported moving forward,” Otunuga says. Meanwhile, investorsare awaiting the monthly U.S. report on nonfarm payrolls on Friday, which willplay a big role in where gold ends the week, the analyst continues. “Prior tothe NFP report, market uncertainty and overall caution is likely to inspirebulls to push the yellow metal higher,” the analyst continues. “Taking a lookat the technical picture, gold has scope to venture higher towards $1,360 ifbulls are able to secure control above $1,340. Alternatively, sustainedweakness below $1,340 could result in a decline back to $1,324.”
By Allen SykoraFor Kitco News
Follow @AllenSykora