Gold price near steady; bulls need a fresh spark

Editor's Note: With so much market volatility, stay on top of daily news! Get caught up in minutes with our speedy summary of today's must-read news and expert opinions. Sign up here!

(Kitco News) - Gold pricesare not far from unchanged in early U.S. trading Monday. Bulls are wobbly againand need some new fundamental information to jumpstart a rally. December goldfutures were last up $0.60 at $1,768.30. December Comex silver was last up $0.031at $23.38 an ounce.

Globalstock markets were mostly lower in overnight trading. The U.S. stock indexesare pointed to lower openings when the New York day session begins. Riskaversion is keener to start the trading week, amid rising energy costs and increasingworries about stagflation. Nymex crude oil prices hit a seven-year high of $83.87a barrel overnight. China's third-quarter gross domestic product growth slowedto 4.9%, year-on-year, lower than expectations and the slowest pace of growthin a year, hurt by power shortages and supply chain bottlenecks. China's GDProse 7.9% in the second quarter. Meantime, the governor of the Bank of Englandsaid Sunday the BOE will have to act to curb inflationary pressure. He saidinflation in the U.K. had already risen and would rise further, to warrantaction.

Theother key outside market today sees the U.S. dollar index higher. Meantime, the10-year U.S. Treasury note yield is presently fetching 1.609%.

U.S.economic data due for release Monday includes industrial production andcapacity utilization, Treasury international capital data and the NAHB housingmarket index.

Technically,December gold futures bulls have the slight overall near-term technicaladvantage as prices are trending higher on the daily chart, but just barely.Bulls need to show fresh power soon to keep their edge. Bulls' next upside priceobjective is to produce a close above solid resistance at last week's high of $1,801.90.Bears' next near-term downside price objective is pushing futures prices belowsolid technical support at the September low of $1,721.10. First resistance is seenat $1,775.00 and then at $1,782.40. First support is seen at today's low of $1,760.30and then at $1,750.00. Wyckoff's Market Rating: 5.5

The silver bears have the overall near-term technicaladvantage. However, prices are is a fledgling uptrend. Silver bulls' next upsideprice objective is closing December futures prices above solid technical resistanceat $24.00 an ounce. The next downside price objective for the bears is closingprices below solid support at $22.00. First resistance is seen at the overnighthigh of $23.495 and then at last week's high of $24.645. Next support is seen at$23.00 and then at $22.75. Wyckoff's Market Rating: 4.0.

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.

Monetary-driven precious metals outperform major base metals

Gold stocks hit by plunging equities markets

Gold stocks down as metal and equities momentum fades

Another Kazatomprom guidance announcement shakes uranium price

Major monetary drivers still supporting gold