Gold is calm on Thursday, as the spot price stands at $1238.67 per ounce in the European session. In the US, today’s highlight is Unemployment Claims, with the markets expecting another strong reading.
US numbers have generally been strong, but very low inflation levels continue to point to slack in the economy. On Wednesday, this trend continued with soft consumer inflation numbers. CPI rose to +0.1%, an improvement from the previous reading of -0.2%. The estimate stood at 0.0%, so the markets clearly did not have high expectations. It was a similar story from Core CPI, which also posted a 0.1%, up from 0.0% a month earlier. This was shy of the forecast of 0.2% but still within expectations.
On Friday, we’ll get a look at New Home Sales. The indicator shined last month, jumping to 504 thousand, up from 412 thousand in the previous reading. The markets are expecting a downturn in the upcoming release, with an estimate of just 473 thousand. Will the indicator beat this estimate? Earlier in the week, Existing Home Sales sparkled at 5.29 million, its best showing in a year.
XAU/USD October 23 at 11:15 GMT
XAU/USD 1238.67 H: 1244.63 L: 1237.40
XAU/USD Technical
| S3 | S2 | S1 | R1 | R2 | R3 |
| 1215 | 1240 | 1252 | 1275 | 1300 | 1322 |
- Gold has not showed much movement during the day, as XAU/USD continues to trade near the 1240 line.
- On the upside, 1252 remains a weak line. 1275 is stronger.
- 1240 is an immediate support level. 1215 is next.
- Current range: 1240 to 1252.
Further levels in both directions:
- Below: 1252, 1240, 1215, 1186, and 1156
- Above: 1275, 1300, 1322 and 1345
OANDA’s Open Positions Ratio
XAU/USD ratio is unchanged on Thursday. This is not consistent with the pair’s movement, as gold has posted slight losses. The ratio has a majority of long positions, indicative of trader sentiment in favor of gold posting gains against the dollar.
XAU/USD Fundamentals
- 12:30 US Unemployment Claims. Estimate 269K.
- 13:00 US HPI. Estimate 0.4%.
- 13:45 US Flash Manufacturing PMI. Estimate 57.2 points.
- 14:00 US Consumer Confidence. Estimate -12 points.
- 14:00 US CB Leading Index. Estimate 0.8%
- 14:30 US Natural Gas Storage. Estimate 97B.