Gold Near Steady; U.S. Jobs Report On Deck

(Kitco News) - Gold and silver prices were near steady in early-afternoon U.S. trading Thursday, in achoppy, two-sided trading session. The metals got just a bit of support from apullback in the U.S. dollar index from its recent strong gains. However, a droppingcrude oil market that has come well down from its recent high is a bearishoutside market factor for the precious metals. August Comex gold futures werelast down $0.50 an ounce at $1,306.00. July Comex silver was last down $0.034at $16.51 an ounce.

Inmid-morning action today the gold and silver markets got a slight, brief liftwhen the U.S. announced it is going to go ahead and implement anearlier-announced tariff regime on imported steel and aluminum. That somewhatheightened trader and investor anxiety on notions a bigger-scale trade warcould occur between the U.S. and its major trading partners.

Tradersare awaiting Friday’s U.S. jobs report for May. The key non-farm payrollsnumber is expected to come in at up around 190,000. Wednesday’s ADP jobs reportshowed a rise of 178,000. Trading volatility could pick up in the immediateaftermath of Friday morning’s jobs report. In fact, given the quieter tradingactivity in the metals so far this week, it’s even more likely that metals willsee bigger price movements after the jobs data.

Thekey “outside markets” today find Nymex crude oil prices lower and trading just above$67.00 a barrel.

Meantime,the U.S. dollar index is near steady on more profit taking and a correctivepullback after hitting hit a 10.5-month high on Tuesday.

Technically,gold prices are still in a two-month-old downtrend on the daily bar chart, butnow just barely. The gold bears have the slight overall near-term technicaladvantage. Gold bulls' next upside near-term price breakout objective is toproduce a close above solid technical resistance at the May high of $1,332.40.Bears' next near-term downside price breakout objective is pushing prices belowsolid technical support at the May low of $1,286.80. First resistance is seenat last week’s high of $1,312.60 and then at $1,320.00. First support is seenat $1,300.00 and then at this week’s low of $1,296.60. Wyckoff's Market Rating:4.5

Thesilver bulls and bears are on a level overall near-term technical playingfield. Silver bulls' next upside price breakout objective is closing pricesabove solid technical resistance at $17.00 an ounce. The next downside pricebreakout objective for the bears is closing prices below solid support at theMay low of $16.07. First resistance is seen at today’s high of $16.615 and thenat last week’s high of $16.74. Next support is seen at this week’s low of$16.31 and then at $16.19. Wyckoff's Market Rating: 5.0.

JulyN.Y. copper closed steady at 306.85 cents today. Prices closed near mid-rangetoday. The copper bulls and bears are on a level overall near-term technicalplaying field, amid recent choppy trading. Copper bulls' next upside priceobjective is pushing and closing prices above solid technical resistance at theApril high of 321.80 cents. The next downside price objective for the bears isclosing prices below solid technical support at the March low of 295.85 cents.First resistance is seen at today’s high of 309.20 cents and then at 310.00cents. First support is seen at today’s low of 304.60 cents and then at thisweek’s low of 301.00 cents. Wyckoff's Market Rating: 5.0.

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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