Gold Remains $1174.74 Ahead of Unemployment Claims

 

Gold Remains Listless Ahead of Unemployment ClaimsGold is showing little movement on Wednesday, as the spot price stands at $1174.74 per ounce. The metal had traded closed to the key 1200 line for most of December, but posted sharp losses to start off the week. In the US, today’s highlight is Unemployment Claims. The markets are not expecting much change from the previous release, with the estimate standing at 291 thousand.

Wednesday, with mixed results. GDP was red-hot in Q3, jumping 5.0%, ahead of the estimate of 4.6%. This marked the indicator’s strongest gain since the third quarter of 2003. The US economy is expected to continue to surge in 2015, driven by increased consumer spending and lower oil prices. The news was not as positive from Core Durable Goods Orders, which posted a decline of 0.4%, its fourth decline in five readings. The reading was well off the estimate of 1.1%. Durable Goods Orders looked even worse, with a reading of -0.7%. This surprised the markets which had anticipated a strong gain of 3.0%.

Housing data continues to weaken as New Home Sales slipped to 438 thousand, its poorest showing since July and well short of the forecast of 461 thousand. UoM Consumer Sentiment continues to rise, hitting 93.6 points in December. This marked its highest level since February 2007, as the US consumer remains very optimistic about the economy as we move into 2015.

XAU/USD has shown little movement in the Asian and European sessions, as the pair trades just above support at 1174.74.
On the upside, 1200 has some breathing room as the pair trades at lower levels. 1215 is next.
On the downside, 1172 remains under strong pressure. Will the pair break below this line during the day?
Current range: 1174 to 1200

Further levels in both directions:
Below: 1170, 1156, 1130 and 1111
Above: 1200, 1215, 1240, 1255 and 1275

OANDA’s Open Positions Ratio
XAU/USD ratio is almost unchanged on Wednesday. This is consistent with the lack of movement we are seeing from the pair. The ratio has a majority of long positions, indicative of trader bias towards gold moving to higher ground.

XAU/USD Fundamentals
13:30 US Unemployment Claims. Estimate 291K.
15:30 US Crude Oil Inventories. Estimate -2.4M.
17:00 US Natural Gas Storage. Estimate -81B.