Main St., Wall. St. Look For Higher Gold Prices
(Kitco News)- WallStreet and Main Street have both flipped from bearish to bullish short-termforecasts for gold prices, based on the Kitco News weekly survey.
Goldis headed for a small gain in a holiday-thinned week, with Canada Day and theU.S. Fourth of July both occurring in the same week. The metal held up Fridayeven though U.S. nonfarm payrolls came in slightly stronger than expectations,rising by 213,000 during June.
Sixteenmarket professionals took part in the survey. There were 11 votes, or 69%,calling for gold prices to rise. There were three votes, or 19%, calling forgold to fall, while two voters, or 12%, look for a sideways market.
Meanwhile,808 voters responded in an online Main Street survey. A total of 449 respondents,or 56%, predicted that gold prices would be higher in a week. Another 231 voters,or 29%, said gold will fall, while 128, or 16%, see a sideways market.
Wall Street
Bullish
Bearish 
Neutral VS
Main Street
Bullish Bearish Neutral Forthe trading week now winding down, the largest blocs of Wall Street (53%) andMain Street (46%) voters were bearish. Around 11 a.m. EDT, Comex August goldwas up 0.1% for the week so far to $1,256.20 an ounce.
CharlieNedoss, senior market strategist with LaSalle Futures Group, sees potential forgold to rise to the 20-day moving average around $1,271 on ideas that the U.S.dollar may have put in a top. He also cited an “outside day” reversal higherfor gold on a daily chart Monday.
“Thedollar looks toppy to me,” he said, noting this fell below the 20-day average.“The jobs report should have been friendly for the dollar.”
Preciousmetals tend to move inversely to the U.S. currency.
“I’mlooking for a little bounce,” said Ralph Preston, principal with Heritage WestFinancial. He cited the market’s ability to hold key chart support, including adouble-bottom.
AdrianDay, chairman and chief executive officer of Adrian Day Asset Management,
suggested the widening tariff war should support gold, as well as uneasinesswith stocks, leading some to take a “hedge position in gold.”
Sean Lusk, director of commercial hedging with WalshTrading, looks for gold to start trying to regain its footing as long as marketdoes not fall through the recent lows near $1,238, thus avoiding furthertechnical-chart selling.
“If we hold, seasonal buying will start to creep inas we move through July,” Lusk said.
PhilFlynn, senior market analyst with at Price Futures Group, predicted a bounce ingold after recent weakness that he said was largely due to a muscular U.S.dollar amid concerns about a trade war with China. By now, a trade war has alreadybeen factored into markets, at least to a certain extent, he continued.
“Nowthat the shots of the trade war have been fired, the markets will be lessconcerned,” he said. Further, he looks for physical demand for the metal topick up and commented that the improving U.S. labor market could raiseinflation expectations.
Meanwhile,Kevin Grady, president of Phoenix Futures and Options LLC, sees weakness ingold due to dollar strength and a view that U.S. jobs report for last month wasstrong enough to support continued monetary tightening by the Federal Reserve.He put support for gold around $1,230 to $1,231.
“Evenwith the trade wars, we see people running to the U.S. dollar as a safe haven,”Grady said. “That will hurt gold.”
JimWyckoff, senior technical analyst with Kitco, said he views the charts asbearish.
ColinCieszynski, chief market strategist at SIA Wealth Management, described himself asneutral on gold for now.
“To me, it looks stuck in a $1,240 [to] $1,260maybe $1,265 trading range,” Cieszynski said. “Neitherthe imposition of tariffs nor stronger U.S. nonfarm payrolls and trade datawere able to kick the U.S. dollar and gold into gear. This suggests to me thatthese forces are offsetting each other, keeping gold stuck in its currenttrading range.”
By Allen SykoraFor Kitco News
Follow @AllenSykora
asykora@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.