Gold Slightly Down As U.S.-N. Korea Summit Upbeat; FOMC On Deck

(Kitco News) - Gold pricesaremoderately lower and trading right around the psychologically important$1,300.00 level in early-afternoon U.S. trading Tuesday. Gold and silvermarkets did not react significantly to the concluded U.S.-North Korea summitearlier today. August Comex gold futures were last down $2.40 an ounce at $1,300.80.July Comex silver was last down $0.022 at $16.93 an ounce.

Theworld marketplace took in stride the apparent positive conclusion of the summitmeeting on denuclearization between U.S. President Donald Trump and NorthKorean President Kim Jong Un. World stock markets were narrowly mixed after themeeting.

U.S.Treasuries and the world currency markets also showed muted reactions to thesummit’s conclusion-probably because traders and investors realize there aregoing to be lots of twists and turns on the road to complete denuclearizationof North Korea, but still reckon this is a good start.

Ontap earlier today was the U.S. consumer price index (CPI) for May. CPI came inat up 0.2% from April and up 2.8%, year-on-year. Those numbers were in linewith market expectations and had little impact on the markets.

Attentionnow turns to the Federal Reserve’s Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting thatbegan today and ends Wednesday afternoon with a statement. It is widelyexpected the FOMC will raise U.S. interest rates by 0.25% at this meeting. FedChair Jerome Powell will have a press conference following the meeting.

TheEuropean Central Bank also holds its monetary policy meeting on Thursday. Nochange is expected in ECB policy, but the central bank is still on a path ofeasy money that is keeping its interest rates very low, and diverging withthose of the U.S. By the end of the year the spread between key U.S. and Eurozone interest rates is expected to be around 3.0%.

Thekey “outside markets” today find Nymex crude oil prices slightly higher andtrading right around $66.50 a barrel. The U.S. dollar index is near steadytoday.

Technically,gold price action has turned choppy and sideways recently. This has negated aprice downtrend and suggests a near-term market bottom is in place. The goldbulls and bears are on a level overall near-term technical playing field. Goldbulls' next upside near-term price breakout objective is to produce a closeabove solid technical resistance at the May high of $1,332.40. Bears' nextnear-term downside price breakout objective is pushing prices below solidtechnical support at the May low of $1,286.80. First resistance is seen at lastweek’s high of $1,307.80 and then at the June high of $1,312.60. First supportis seen at the June low of $1,293.10 and then at $1,286.80. Wyckoff's MarketRating: 5.0

Silverhit another six-week high today. The silver bulls have the overall near-termtechnical advantage. Silver bulls' next upside price breakout objective isclosing prices above solid technical resistance at $17.00 an ounce. The nextdownside price breakout objective for the bears is closing prices below solidsupport at the May low of $16.07. First resistance is seen at $17.00 and thenat $17.11. Next support is seen at Monday’s low of $16.77 and then at $16.645.Wyckoff's Market Rating: 6.0.

JulyN.Y. copper closed down 45 points at 325.30 cents today. Prices closed nearmid-range on mild profit taking after hitting a 4.5-month high late last week.The copper bulls still have the firm overall near-term technical advantage. Abull flag or bullish pennant pattern may be forming on the daily bar chart.Copper bulls' next upside price objective is pushing and closing prices abovesolid technical resistance at the December high of 334.20 cents. The nextdownside price objective for the bears is closing prices below solid technicalsupport at this week’s low of 309.00 cents. First resistance is seen at 327.50cents and then at 330.00 cents. First support is seen at today’s low of 323.35cents and then at 321.80 cents. Wyckoff's Market Rating: 7.0.

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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