Gold Still Soaring At Multi-Year Highs On Geopolitical Tensions

 | Jun 25, 2019 09:37

Market Overview

Since the Fed meeting last week, the dollar has been panned. The prospect of looser monetary policy from the Fed has been a big drag on shorter dated yields, as differentials have turned sour for the greenback. Although the yen and Swissy are performing well on a relative basis, it is notable that the euro is also in a sweet spot for now. However, the drive higher on EUR/USD is nothing compared to that on gold.

There are several factors which are combining to pull gold to multi year highs, including the Fed and geopolitical fears. Another breakout above the $1433 May 2013 high was seen early this morning. Not only is there the prospect of a dovish Fed, but also trade tensions and also geopolitical tensions in the Persian Gulf as the US imposes sanctions on Iran following the downed drone last week.

There is starting to be a degree of consolidation on forex this morning, but gold remains strong. Will the G20 meeting between Presidents Trump and Xi be the catalyst for a big market shift once more? The uncertainty over this meeting and its implications for Fed policy are likely to mean investors increasingly cautious through the coming days.

Wall Street closed lower with the S&P 500 -0.2% at 2945, whilst US futures are around -0.3% lower in early moves today. This has pulled on Asian markets lower, with the Nikkei -0.4% and Shanghai Composite -1.3%. In Europe, the outlook is similarly cautious to the US, with FTSE futures and DAX futures both around -0.4% lower.

In forex, there is a shade of USD underperformance still, with JPY being the main outperformer, along with NZD.

In commodities, the run higher on gold shows little sign of stopping, whilst there is a consolidation on oil with a slight slip back of -0.5%.

The economic calendar is fairly bare through the European morning, with US data then dominating later in the session. The Case Shiller House Price Index at 14:00 BST is expected to drop another tenth of a percent to +2.6% (from +2.7% in May) which would be a twelfth consecutive month of declining growth.

The Conference Board’s Consumer Confidence for June is at 15:00 BST is expected to slip back slightly to 132.0 (from 134.1 in May) which would still suggest the US consumer remains positive. US New Home Sales are at 15:00 BST and are expected to improve by 1.0% to 686,000 in May (from 673,000 in April). After Fed Chair Powell’s comments in the FOMC meeting last week, the regional Fed surveys are worth watching now. The Richmond Fed Manufacturing is at 1500BST and is expected to improve to 7 (from 5 last month).

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Chart of the Day – AUD/USD

There has been an appreciable rebound on the pair sine the Fed decision. However, this looks as though it is setting the market up for another chance to sell. A run of now five consecutive positive closes shows that the near term recovery is in full swing. However, this is still playing counter to the more considerable negative outlook of the medium term outlook. Since the market broke decisively below $0.7000 as a basis of support, the bears have been in control. There is a consistent negative configuration on momentum indicators, with the RSI has consistently failed around 60 throughout 2019 (currently at 54), whilst MACD lines are below neutral. Rallies should still be treated as a chance to sell. Having broken above a near term pivot around $0.6940 there is upside potential in the recovery towards $0.7000. However, this opens the market to the overhead supply around $0.7000 which held the earlier June rally and sold off. Await failure signals on the hourly chart, such as MACD below neutral and hourly RSI below 35. The initial support is $0.6940. A failure back under $0.6900 re-opens the $0.6830/$06960 lows. A decisive move above $0.7000, resistance is key $0.7050/$0.7070.