New 2020 Highs For Gold?

Gold

The yellow metal has been in firm demand once again this week. Gold has extended last week’s gains to move back up and challenge the current 2020 highs around 1611.05, as of writing. The move higher has been consistent with the emergence of fresh concerns regarding the ongoing coronavirus outbreak.

Midweek, HSBC reported that they have seen a 53% drop in profits and will consequently be lashing 35000 jobs worldwide. This comes from a combination of factors such as US/China trade uncertainty last year, Brexit concerns and now also coronavirus impact. The news has been among the first signs of the real economic impact of coronavirus. This was followed by news from Apple that the US tech giant will miss first-quarter earnings this year due to the heavily reduced activity in China as a result of the coronavirus impact.

These two headlines rocked risk appetite midweek, sending equities lower. While equities have since recovered some of the losses, gold is seeing continued safe-haven demand and further upside seems likely here.

Technical Perspective

Gold prices continue to push higher here, within the rising channel and are now testing the current 2020 highs around 1611.05. If price breaks above here, the next level to watch will be the 1651.75 level. However, RSI divergence is still in play and a reversal lower cannot be ruled out. If price does reverse lower, the first support level to watch will be the 1554.69 zone. A break there would open the way for a move back down to 1481.93

Silver

Silver prices have not had quite the same upside as gold prices this week, though silver has managed to reversed initial losses to trade back into positive territory on the week so far. The recovery in equities prices has helped silver due to its links with industrial indices.

Looking ahead to the rest of the week, manufacturing data due from the UK, EU, and the US will be watched by silver traders. If coronavirus is shown to have negatively impacted manufacturing that could further weigh on metals prices ahead of the weekend.

Technical perspective

The rally off the 17.3408 level support continues this week with price pushing higher within the large contracting triangle pattern. The next test for silver will be the bearish trend line of the pattern, ahead of the key 18.63 resistance level. A break higher there would open the way for a test of the 19.6424 2019 highs.