- SWFX traders have become neutral
- 58% of pending commands are to buy the metal
- The bullion opened at 1,187.33
- Upcoming Events: US Advance GDP; US Core Durable Goods Orders
US homebuilding activity advanced more than expected in the last month of 2016, official figures revealed on Thursday. The Commerce Department reported housing starts rose 11.3% to a seasonally adjusted annual pace of 1.23 million in December, following the previous month's upwardly revised 1.10 million units and surpassing analysts' expectations for a 1.19 million-unit rate. The December increase suggested the housing market boosted economic growth in the Q4. Meanwhile, building permits came in at a seasonally adjusted annual pace of 1.21 million units in the same month, unchanged from November's upwardly revised reading, slightly missing economists' projections of a 1.22 million-unit rate.
Separately, the Philadelphia Federal Reserve said its Manufacturing Index jumped to 23.6 points in January, the highest level in more than two years, driven by a rise in new orders, which climbed to 26.0 from 14.90. Analysts anticipated a sharp fall to 16.2 points in January from the prior month's 21.5. Data also showed the Employment Index surged to 12.8 from 3.6, while the Business Outlook Index for the next six months hit its highest level since August 2014 of 56.6 points. Other data released on Thursday showed initial jobless claims fell 15,000 to 234,000 last week, the lowest level in more than 43 years.
Upcoming events: US GDP and Core Durable Goods Orders
At 13:30 GMT there will be a package of fundamental data released in the US. The data is surely set to affect the markets, as it is the once in three months released US GDP, combined with US Core Durable Goods Orders. The Dukascopy research team will be covering the data release on our live webinar. Traders are welcomed to tune in. That will be possible by clicking on the notification that will pop up in the Dukascopy trading platform before the coverage of the data publication.
Gold pauses above 1,180
Daily chart: The yellow metal continues its way lower, as it entered its fourth consecutive session of decline on Friday. However, the bullion has stopped in the middle of a strong support cluster, which is made up of the weekly S2 at 1,185.14, monthly R1 at 1,184.64 and the 23.60% Fibonacci retracement level, which is located at 1,182.37. As already during the morning hours the metal managed to reach out below the cluster, it can be assumed that it is not strong enough to keep gold from continuing to decline in the near future. In such case, it is most likely set to fall as low as 1,176.66 level, where the 55-day SMA is located at..Daily chart
Hourly chart: The hourly chart reveals, that the only thing stopping the commodity price from moving lower actually is not the 23.60% Fibonacci retracement level. The pair is not declining due to support provided by the lower Bollinger band. That fact strengthens the hypothesis of a further fall of the bullion's price.
Hourly chart
SWFX traders become neutral
OANDA Gold traders have consistently continued to decrease their bullish outlook on the yellow metal, as open positions were already 67% bullish on Friday, compared to 80% a few weeks ago. Meanwhile, traders of SAXO bank also remain long, regarding the yellow metal, as 67.21% of open positions are bullish.