Gold, Silver Prices Slip Amid Steep Drop In Crude Oil

(Kitco News) - Gold and silver prices were modestly lower in early-afternoon U.S. trading Monday. Bothmarkets are hovering near their 12-month lows set last week. Scant riskaversion in the marketplace the past several weeks has most traders andinvestors avoiding the safe-haven metals. Augustgold futures were last down $1.80an ounce at $1,239.40. September Comex silver was down $0.005 at $15.81 anounce.

Asharp drop in Nymex crude oil prices today to below $68.00 per barrel for atime worked to put more pressure on the precious metals markets and the rawcommodity sector in general. There are now early clues that the crude oilmarket has put in at least a near-term top, if not a major top. Such would be agenerally bearish element for much of the raw commodity sector. Gold and silverprices have preferred to follow their raw commodity counterparts recently.

Theother key “outside market” today finds the U.S. dollar index weaker on acorrective pullback from recent gains.

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Technically,the gold bears have the solid overall near-term technical advantage. Athree-month-old downtrend is in place on the daily bar chart. Gold bulls' nextupside near-term price breakout objective is to produce a close above solidtechnical resistance at the July high of $1,266.90. Bears' next near-termdownside price breakout objective is pushing prices below solid technicalsupport at $1,200.00. First resistance is seen at today’s high of $1,245.80 andthen at $1,250.00. First support is seen at last week’s low of $1,236.20 andthen at $1,230.00. Wyckoff's Market Rating: 2.0

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$15.55. First resistance is seen at $16.00 and then at $16.11. Next support isseen at last week’s low of $15.70 and then at $15.55. Wyckoff's Market Rating:2.0.

SeptemberN.Y. copper closed down 95 points at 276.60 cents today. Prices closed nearmid-range today. The copper bears have the solid overall near-term technicaladvantage. Copper bulls' next upside price objective is pushing and closingprices above solid technical resistance at 300.00 cents. The next downsideprice objective for the bears is closing prices below solid technical supportat 260.00 cents. First resistance is seen at 280.00 cents and then at 283.05cents. First support is seen today’s low of at 274.45 cents and then at lastweek’s low of 271.70 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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