Gold, Silver Hit 12-Mo. Lows As USDX Boosted By Upbeat Powell Remarks

(Kitco News) - Gold and silver prices aresolidly lower and notched new 12-month lows in early-afternoon U.S. tradingTuesday. The precious metals dropped in conjunction with comments from FederalReserve Chairman Jerome Powell today that suggested the U.S. economy is strongand inflation is tame. Powell’s remarks lifted the U.S. dollar index to itsdaily high. Augustgold futures were last down $13.00 an ounce at $1,226.70.September Comex silver was down $0.207 at $15.61 an ounce.

Powelltestified before the Senate Banking Committee on U.S. monetary policy. Asexpected the Fed chairman gave an upbeat assessment of the U.S. economy andinflation, which traders extrapolated to mean the Fed will likely remain on apath of gradually raising interest rates. Powell said the U.S. trade disputesare hard to gauge regarding impact on the U.S. economy. The U.S. dollar was boostedby Powell’s remarks, as was the U.S. stock market. U.S. Treasury yields roseduring his testimony. Safe-haven gold and silver prices are again deflated byupbeat trader and investor attitudes in the world marketplace.

Theother key “outside market” today finds Nymex crude oil prices weaker andtrading just below $68.00 a barrel. Recent solid losses in crude begin tosuggest this market has topped out. World oil production is back on the riseafter some recent outages from producing countries. A down-trending oil marketis also a negative for the raw commodity sector, including the metals.

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Technically,the gold bears have the solid overall near-term technical advantage. There areno early clues to suggest a market bottom is close at hand. A three-month-olddowntrend is in place on the daily bar chart. Gold bulls' next upside near-termprice breakout objective is to produce a close above solid technical resistanceat the July high of $1,266.90. Bears' next near-term downside price breakoutobjective is pushing prices below solid technical support at $1,200.00. Firstresistance is seen at $1,236.20 and then at this week’s high of $1,245.80.First support is seen at today’s low of $1,225.90 and then at $1,220.00. Wyckoff'sMarket Rating: 1.5

Thesilver bears have the solid overall near-term technical advantage. Silverbulls' next upside price breakout objective is closing prices above solidtechnical resistance at the July high of $16.26 an ounce. The next downsideprice breakout objective for the bears is closing prices below solid support at$15.00. First resistance is seen at $15.75 and then at this week’s high of$15.90. Next support is seen at today’s low of $15.56 and then at $15.25.Wyckoff's Market Rating: 1.5.

SeptemberN.Y. copper closed down 170 points at 274.75 cents today. Prices closed nearthe session low today. The copper bears have the solid overall near-termtechnical advantage. Copper bulls' next upside price objective is pushing andclosing prices above solid technical resistance at 300.00 cents. The nextdownside price objective for the bears is closing prices below solid technicalsupport at 260.00 cents. First resistance is seen at 280.00 cents and then at283.05 cents. First support is seen at the July low of at 271.70 cents and thenat 270.00 cents. Wyckoff's Market Rating: 1.5.

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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