- 60% of all SWFX open positions are long
- 58% of pending commands were to buy the metal
- Gold opened Friday's session at 1,127.61
- Upcoming Events: US New Home Sales; Revised UoM Consumer Sentiment
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.
Minor US Data before Christmas
After the huge data dump on Thursday there are still some leftovers coming from the US. New US Home Sales and the Revised UoM Consumer Sentiment index are set to be released at 15:00 GMT. Both of these data releases are rated as medium impact by many in the markets. However, in the recent six months they have not made a single notable impact on the markets.
Gold once more surges in early hours
Daily chart: The yellow metal surged in the early hours of Friday's trading session. However, such a tendency has been seen throughout this week, as either scalpers take profit during the Asian session or there exists a negative sentiment on the US Dollar in Asia due to other fundamental reasons. Although, in the second half of the day of the GMT time zone the bullion steadily continues to fall. It is most likely that Friday's trading session will be no different from the few previous, as there are usually no gradual changed in finance in the period up to Christmas.Daily chart
Hourly chart: The hourly chart for the yellow metal shows how the bullion is being pressured lower by the 55 and 100-hour SMAs. Although, it does not seem to surprise, but the 200-hour SMA is also closing in from the upside.
Hourly chart
Trader sentiment unchanged
OANDA Gold traders remain optimistic regarding the Bullion on Friday, as open positions were 76.85% long, compared to 75.19% on Thursday. Meanwhile, traders of SAXO bank seem to have increased their bullish stance, as Friday showed 70.35% of traders betting the metal will surge, compared to 69.51% during the previous session.