New orders for US manufactured durable goods rose markedly last month, driven by higher demand for machinery and other equipment, official figures revealed on Wednesday. Overall, new orders for capital goods jumped 4.8% in October, according to the US Department of Commerce. Meanwhile, market analysts anticipated a slight acceleration to 1.2%. The September figure was revised down from -0.1% to -0.3%. Demand for transportation equipment jumped 12% during the reported month, the largest gain since October 2015. Back in September, new orders for transportation equipment climbed 0.4%. Excluding orders tied to transportation, core durable goods orders increased 1.0%, following September's downwardly revised gain of 0.1% and surpassing the 0.2% rise market forecast. The US economy is set to expand at a 3.6% annual pace in the Q3, after growing 2.9% in the previous quarter. Separately, the Department of Labor reported on Wednesday the number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits increased to 251,000 in the week ending November 18, up from the prior week's 233,000, whereas analysts expected a milder rise to 241,000.
On Monday 21 of November ECB President Mario Draghi, during his speech has urged the European Union to stay united in the face of different challenges such as Brexit as he warned that the cohesion of Europe is being tested. Speaking in the European Parliament in Strasbourg, Mr. Draghi noted that "The euro area recovery continues to proceed at a moderate, but steady, pace. It has shown remarkable resilience to adverse developments and uncertainties emanating from the global environment." said that Europe needs to respond "cohesively and decisively" to the current challenges facing Europe. Overall, Mr. Draghi maintained a neutral tone and he is not prepared at this stage to offer strong hints over the likely policy action at December's policy meeting. There were also no attempts to steamroller the ECB Council into policy action. The stated above comments will maintain expectations that the ECB is not planning to announce some form of bond-buying extension, although the details are still in discussion. In the meantime, reaction to the speech was limited as markets remained in a consolidation phase with EUR/USD finding support just below the 1.0600 level.
Upcoming fundamentals: White noise data
During Friday's trading session there are scheduled three macroeconomic data releases, which in the opinion of some market participants can affect the strength of the US Dollar. However, history has shown that these data releases can easily be labeled as white noise, which means that they do not affect the markets at all. S Goods Trade Balance and US Preliminary Wholesale Inventories will be released at 13:30 GMT. Afterwards, at 14:45 GMT US Flash Services PMI will be available.
Gold below level of significance near 1,180
Daily chart: On early Friday morning the yellow metal fluctuated slightly lower during the first hours of trading. However, the most notable fact is that the bullion began the session firmly below the weekly S2, which is located at 1,184.22. Previously, on Thursday the level of significance provided enough support to keep the rate up after the 2.06% fall, which occurred during Wednesday's trading session. The outlook for the metal is simple – a continuation of the fall, as the next support levels is down below at 1,165.54.SWFX traders remain bullish
Spreads (avg,pip) / Trading volume / Volatility
Market participants foresee the price of gold at 1,300 by February
Traders who were asked regarding their longer-term views on gold between October 25 and November 25 expect, on average, to see the metal around 1,300 in late February. Generally, 53% (-3%) of participants believe the price will be above 1,300 in ninety days. Alongside, 34% (+1%) of those surveyed reckon the price will trade in the range between 1,150 and 1,300 over the next three months.