
December gold futures are up over $10 on the week with last Friday’s close at $1196.20/oz and this morning trading around $1208.00/oz. With the U.S. Dollar index up this week and looking to have formed a short-term top, this may be an indication of some support for gold since typically gold is correlated with the dollar by about 85 percent.
With the anticipation of another rate hike in December, the attitude of gold is somewhat tempered as higher rates draw investors to the U.S. dollar. This draw will make U.S. denominated assets, like gold, more expensive abroad.
U.S. hiring slowed in September, only adding 134,000 jobs, compared to August which showed a revision and added 270,000. Unemployment is at a low that has not been seen since 1969, which further extends the thought of more tax hikes to come as people will be borrowing more due to a strong economy and increase in jobs. These factors add to the sentiment that gold is somewhat tempered.
Below is the December Comex Gold futures chart. We have our support levels at $1198.00 an ounce and resistance at $1208.00 an ounce. We have been range bound since the middle of August and look and anticipate trading out of this range, going with a trade outside of this breakout range.
Gold December ’18 Daily Chart