- 60% of all SWFX open positions are long
- 62% of pending commands were to buy the metal
- Gold was not traded on Monday
- Upcoming Events: Second day of Christmas
New orders for US-made capital goods advanced more than expected in November due to strong demand for machinery and primary metals, suggesting some of the oil-related drag on manufacturing was starting to fade. According to the Commerce Department non-defense capital goods orders excluding aircraft, a went up 0.9% after an unrevised 0.2% gain in October. Moreover, there were increases in orders for electrical equipment, appliances and components, as well as computers and electronic products. A drop in oil prices last year, together with a surge in the dollar, pressured manufacturing. Much of the impact has been through weak business spending on equipment, which has contracted for four consecutive quarters. However, with oil prices hovering above $50 per barrel, manufacturing, which accounts for 12% of the US economy, is starting to perk up. In the meantime, the US economy soared at a faster pace last quarter than previously estimated, but the stronger gains only help bring the year's growth rate back in line with the long, sluggish expansion. According to the Commerce Department the US GDP expanded at an inflation- and seasonally adjusted annual rate of 3.5% in the third quarter.
Existing home sales in the United States rose for the third consecutive month in November, surprising markets and hitting their highest level for almost a decade. According to the National Association of Realtors, home resales advanced 0.7% to an annualized rate of 5.61 million units in the reported period, following October's downwardly revised rate of 5.57 million, surpassing analysts' expectations for a slight decline of 1.0% to a 5.52 million-unit pace and reaching the highest since February 2007. On an annual basis, sales increased 15.4% in November. According to the latest data published by Freddie Mac, the fixed 30- year mortgage rate has climbed around 60% to an average rate of 4.16% since Donald Trump's victory in the US presidential election. Moreover, mortgage rates are likely to go even higher after the Fed rose its key interest rate to 0.75% from 0.50% last week as well projected three more hikes in 2017. Separately, the Energy Information Administration announced on Wednesday a 2.3 million barrel increase in US crude oil inventories during the week ending December 16, while market analysts anticipated a decline of 2.4 million barrels, following the preceding week's 2.6 million barrel slip.
Everyone is on holiday
There are no data releases planned in the markets. The only exception are the Japanese, who released a batch of data at 11:30 GMT.
XAU/USD above 1,130 mark
Daily chart: The yellow metal's price did not fluctuate on Monday morning because it was not being traded. However, previously during Friday's trading session the bullion managed to surge by the end of the day, as it ended day's trading session at 1,132.69. In addition, the commodity price fluctuated more to the upside during the day's trading session, as at one moment the metal's price reached above the 1,135 mark.Daily chart
Hourly chart: The day of no trading should be taken into account when doing any calculations on smaller scale charts, as, for example, the large amount of flat candles on the hourly chart are destroying the calculations of SMAs and Bollinger bands.
Hourly chart
Trader sentiment unchanged
OANDA Gold traders remain optimistic regarding the Bullion, as open positions were 77.26% long. Meanwhile, traders of SAXO bank seem to have increased their bullish stance, as Monday showed 71.72% of traders betting the metal will surge, compared to 70.35% during the previous session.