- 59% of all SWFX open positions are long
- 61% of pending commands were to buy the metal
- Gold was not traded on Monday
- Upcoming Events: US Unemployment Claims
US pending home sales dropped unexpectedly last month to the lowest level since January 2016, official figures revealed on Wednesday. The National Association of Realtors reported its Pending Home Sales Index fell a seasonally adjusted 2.5% to 107.3 in November, following the preceding month's rise of 0.1% to 110.0 points, while market analysts anticipated a slight acceleration of 0.5% during the reported period. On an annual basis, the Index declined at an annualized pace of 0.4%. In regional terms, sales jumped 0.6% in the Northeast, but dropped 2.5% in the Midwest, 6.7% in the West and 1.2% in the South during November. According to NAR Chief Economist Larry Yun, the sharp rise in mortgages rates and shortages on the housing market were the main driver of the decline last month.
As a result, the EUR/USD par fell to 1.0394 from 1.0398 ahead of the release, while the GBP/USD declined to 1.2210 from 1.2217. Meanwhile, the US Dollar Index, which tracks the Greenback's performance against a group of six other currencies, remained unchanged at 103.67.
A release that matters
The markets are about to be affected by US Fundamental data, as there are loads of small US data releases. However, there is one data release that is about to almost for sure to shake the market enough to probably provide a trading opportunity and profit from short term volatility. The US Unemployment Claims will be published at 13:30 GMT, and this is one of the three data releases, which really have proven themselves to cause volatility.
Gold jumps on Thursday morning
Daily chart: The yellow metal's price jumped on Thursday morning and reached once more the second weekly resistance at 1,150.18. However, the metal did not manage to break through the resistance, which on Thursday was strengthened by the 20-day SMA at 1,151.45. In the meantime, daily aggregate technical indicators forecast a fall of the metal by the end of the day, which might occur, as markets still predict that the US Dollar will appreciate even more.Daily chart
Hourly chart: With the latest stop at the 1,150 mark an ascending channel has revealed itself on the hourly chart. The channel begins just at the end of the Monday's empty session. The metal has reached the channel's upper trend line, and a retreat is about to begin. The retreat is likely to last until it meets the weekly R1 at 1,141.43.
Hourly chart
SWFX traders still optimistic
OANDA Gold traders remain largely optimistic regarding the Bullion, as open positions were 78% long. Meanwhile, traders of SAXO bank decreased their bullish stance, as Wednesday showed 64.78% of traders betting the metal will surge, compared to 67.40% during the previous session.