Is gold price gearing up for a Christmas rally?

As this tumultuous year winds down, the gold price seems to be positioning itself for a year-end rally as markets bet on more stimulus next week, analysts told Kitco News.

Gold price attempted to push through the key psychological resistance level of $1,900 an ounce this week but ended up settling just below that on Friday. February Comex gold futures were last trading at $1,888.70, up 2.5% on the week.

Gold saw a nearly $70 gain this week as Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell stressed that the central bank would continue its asset purchases until "the job is well and truly done."

"We do have the flexibility to provide more accommodation," Powell added. "The issue is getting through the next four-six months. Clearly, there is going to be a need for help there."

Gold's target of $1,925 by Christmas is still within reach, said Kitco Metals global trading director Peter Hug.

"Powell made it very clear that they will keep their foot to the gas, and he didn't anticipate any type of tightening until 2023. That means at least two years of the Fed indicating easy monetary policy and flexible inflation targeting," Hug said on Friday.

Hug remains very constructive on gold until the global economy begins to normalize in the third quarter of next year.

"From the fiscal perspective and the central bank perspective, they will continue to be accommodative, which will balloon the deficits and hurt the U.S. dollar. In that context, you have to be constructive on precious metals," Hug said.

There are two key underlying triggers that are supportive of higher prices next week, said TD Securities commodity strategist Daniel Ghali.

"We are of the opinion that gold is trading cheap relative to real rates, and the precious metal will be playing catch-up. At the same time, the immediate impulse for higher prices is rather associated with a CTA buying program, in response to strengthening upside momentum," Ghali said. "The Fed's decision to tie QE to economic outcomes still supports the notion of a growth and inflation overshoot, which should provide macro tailwinds for gold in the longer-term."
 

U.S. stimulus and Brexit

The two key items on the agenda next week are U.S. fiscal stimulus and Brexit.

"Investors remain focused on whether politicians in Europe can drive a Brexit deal over the line and also whether Congress can avoid a government shutdown," said ING FX strategists. "We are biased towards progress on both and a continuation of this year's soft dollar environment."

Congress has just hours left to avoid a government shutdown and finalize the $900 billion coronavirus relief package. The federal funding lapses at 12:01 a.m. ET on Saturday."Over this weekend, we will know if the stimulus package will happen. $900 billion is already expected by the market. Any disappointment could be negative," Hug said.

"The other item on the agenda is Brexit negotiations. Right now, there is a better than a 50-50 shot that the UK will leave EU without a trade deal, and that will be positive for the metals next week," he added.

A no-deal Brexit would create fear and uncertainty and boost gold, Hug explained. "There could be a financial dislocation between London and Europe. It creates fear, and Europeans would then turn to buy gold."
 

Price levels

Hug is expecting to see resistance at $1,900 next week as gold might attempt to get to $1,925.

Ghali is carefully eyeing the $1,920 level next week, which he describes as "the essential baseline level" that needs to be breached before the consolidation period is over. On the downside, he was optimistic that the $1,850 level could hold.

"The algos are looking for prices to remain above the $1,880/oz range for the buying flow to be sustained. Gold bugs are also looking for a break north of the $1920/oz range, which would technically represent the end of the consolidation period with prices breaking away from the bull flag. Given gold's relative cheapness and the ongoing algorithmic buying flow, we could imminently see a breakout," he said.

LaSalle Futures Group senior market strategist Charlie Nedoss highlighted $1,914 as a strong resistance level next week. Nedoss also noted that if gold falls below $1,877 next week, it will go on the defensive.
 

Data to watch

On the data front, markets will be keeping a close eye on the final U.S. GDP Q3 numbers on Tuesday. Also on the agenda are existing home sales on Tuesday as well as house price index and new home sales on Wednesday.

Analysts will also be watching Wednesday's PCE price index and personal spending, as well as Thursday's jobless claims and durable good orders.

"The upcoming data flow includes personal spending, which is likely to be soft given weak retail sales numbers, but the manufacturing data suggests durable goods will be relatively firm," ING chief international economist James Knightley said.
 

By Anna Golubova

For Kitco News
 

Kinesis Money

David – http://markethive.com/david-ogden

Gold and silver are now in a perfect storm scenario

Sadly, the events that began in March when the Covid-19 epidemic officially became a global pandemic has led to the current state of the economy. Actions by the Federal Reserve and the U.S. Treasury have resulted in a perfect storm of events that have taken gold to its highest price ever in August 2020.

The fundamental events that have led to the series of massive rallies in gold and silver are still very much with us. The announcement that multiple pharmaceutical companies have completed their third stage trials and are now being granted emergency use by the FDA could not have come soon enough.

However, the timeline for the vaccines to become available to the general public is still many months away. This means that the economic contraction which has affected millions of Americans leaving them unemployed, and the millions of Americans that we're able to stay in their homes due to the moratorium on eviction are still in an extremely fragile and tenuous situation.

It is for these reasons that the current proposal of a financial aid package costing approximately $748 billion is almost certain to pass both the House and Senate and be enacted before the end of the year. Once the proposal has been voted upon and passed it will address extending the unemployment benefits to those who would face additional hardship as their benefits were set to expire on December 26. It will also extend the eviction moratorium set to expire on December 31.

For the first time since the pandemic began global citizens have hope as they can see a conclusion to the most devastating virus, the world has known since the Spanish flu. However, this light at the end of the tunnel although visible is still 3 to 6 months away.

Globally to date over 74 million individuals have contracted the virus, and the world has lost over 1.6 million souls. The most recent data indicates that the last few weeks have produced the largest daily death toll since the pandemic began. On Wednesday of last week, the United States reached the highest daily death toll of this crisis when over 3,000 people had died in a single day with their deaths directly attributable to the virus. ICU beds in hospitals across the country are filled to the highest level since the pandemic began. According to Dr. Fauci, the central federal architect of the virus response has warned us that daily infections will continue to rise until the vaccine is available to the general public.

This means that the fundamentals which have been at the root of recent gains throughout the year in gold remain fully intact at least until the beginning of the second quarter of 2021. More alarming is the fact that once the vaccine is available and enough individuals have created a herd immunity, the economic fallout that will occur will continue to grow, and the financial repercussions that this will cause will continue.

This is why I believe that we currently have a perfect storm scenario in which gold pricing will continue to rise, and over 2021 will trade to a new record high, as the U.S. dollar’s value will continue to diminish.

 

By Gary Wagner

Contributing to kitco.com

Kinesis Money

David – http://markethive.com/david-ogden

Gold pushes higher leading into the EU session

Gold has moved half a percent higher leading into the EU session and taken out the previous wave high at $1875.28. Silver is also trading well and has moved past $25.50 to trade 1.60% higher overnight. The general risk sentiment overnight in the Asia Pac area is positive with the Nikkei 225 (0.18%), ASX (1.16%) and Shanghai Composite (1.13%) all moving in the right direction. The dollar index has taken another dive falling 0.57%.

The FOMC last night didn't throw up too many surprises. There was no change to the composition of stimulus and rates remained unchanged as expected. The Fed said it will maintain its huge bond-buying program until "substantial" progress is seen in employment and inflation. One notable point was the fact that the Fed refrained from extending the weighted average maturity of its purchases.

Germany has given its support to Chinese tech firm Huawei on the 5G network. High profile countries like the UK and Australia have notably rejected to use the Chinese telecommunications firm for their 5G rollout.

Stocking with Australia, their latest jobs numbers impressed overnight. Australian employment change for November came in at 90.0K vs the expected reading of 50.0K. The Australian dollar is one of the outperformers this morning and trades 0.63% higher against the dollar. GDP in NZ also beat expectations to print at 14.0% Q/Q for Q3 vs the consensus of 13.5%.

In the crypto space, Bitcoin hit an all-time high and the euphoria kicked in. Scott Minerd the chief investment officer for $5.3bn Guggenheim Macro Opportunities Fund even stated his team feel that BTC us undervalued and could hit $400K.

Looking ahead to the rest of the session highlights include the SNB rate decision, BoE rate decision. EU CPI, US building permits, Philly Fed data and comments from ECB's de Guindos, Schnabel, BoE's Broadbent, Bailey and Fed's Broadbent.

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David – http://markethive.com/david-ogden

Gold and  silver lose ground heading into the EU session despite some USD weakness

Gold and silver trade marginally lower heading into the EU session on Wednesday despite some weakness in the USD overnight. Risk sentiment was generally positive as the ASX (0.72%) and Nikkei (0.26%) closed higher and the Shanghai Composite was the laggard closing just under flat. Platinum (0.50%), palladium (0.54%) and copper (0.20%) are all trading in the black this morning as it seems that only gold and silver could not take advantage overnight.

The main story from late in the US session was more optimism about a US fiscal coronavirus deal. Senator Mitch McConnell said significant progress on COVID-19 relief is being made, while House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy says COVID-19 relief negotiations moving in the right direction.

There was also some data overnight, Japanese preliminary manufacturing PMI for December printed at 49.7 vs the analyst consensus of 48.9. Their services PMI was a touch lower than last months reading of 47.8 at 47.2. The Australian readings were positive as manufacturing PMI came in at 56.0 vs expected 55.8 and services PMI hit 57.4 vs the expected reading of 55.1.

On the Brexit front, there was some optimism from the Irish PM. He said he was hopeful that a deal could be reached by the weekend. He also stated "I would like hopefully by the weekend that we would have clarity around this and certainly it's important that we do get some clarity so that we can then get any deal that might come over the line ratified"

Looking ahead to the rest of the session highlights include PMI's from the major nations, UK CPI, EU wages, EU trade balance, Canadian wholesale sales, Canadian security purchases data, NZ GDP and the Fed rate decision. We are also set to get comments from Fed Chair Powell, ECB's Schnabel, ECB's De Guindos, ECB's Enria and German Buba Vice President Buch.
 

By Rajan Dhall

For Kitco News

 

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David – http://markethive.com/david-ogden

Gold moves higher heading into the EU session

Gold (0.83%) and silver (1.60%) are heading higher into the EU session as sentiment in the Asia-Pac area was weak. The Nikkei 225 trades 0.17% lower, ASX is down 0.43% and the Shanghai Composite (-0.06%) traded just under flat.

Overnight it was reported that gold imports fell to 7,126KG in October from 17, 135KG in September. Although this is a dramatic fall it would be safe to assume imports are to pick up for Q1 2021 for the Chinese Lunar New Year.

London in the UK is moving to the highest tier (their 3) of restrictions in the UK. This could be because case numbers and hospitalizations are rising but some believe it is in anticipation of the 5-day restriction holiday during the Christmas break. If people are forced to meet fewer people before the pause in regulations this could help reduce the number of infections before the break.

Sticking with the UK, Brexit talks have moved on slightly according to some EU officials. The UK refuted these claims but the fact that they are still negotiating is positive for now. The level playing field and fishing rights still remain the two key sticking points.

In the US overnight, it became official that Joe Biden won the presidential election as the electoral college voted in favour of Biden. Although in most cases this is a formality it seems to be of note in US media.

The Chinese economic recovery seems to be gathering pace. The November industrial production improved to hit 7% and retail sales also improved to print at 5% vs the prior reading of 4.3%.

 

Looking ahead to today's session highlights include UK earnings data, CPI from Italy and France, IEA monthly report, Canadian manufacturing sales, US industrial production and comments from ECB's Lane.

By Rajan Dhall

For Kitco NewsFor Kitco News

 

Kinesis Money

David – http://markethive.com/david-ogden

Can 2020's last full week take gold price to $1,925?

Gold is facing strong resistance right at the $1,850 mark. Can it breach it and move to $1,925 an ounce next week? Analysts are not ruling it out, but everything seems to depend on the U.S. fiscal stimulus, which is still up in the air.

Gold is largely unchanged on the week, but the important thing is that the metal is not letting go of its previous long-time support of $1,850 an ounce just yet.

Seasonality will start to favor gold next week. Based on historical trading patterns, one of the best times for gold is from mid-December up to Valentine's Day, Walsh Trading co-director Sean Lusk told Kitco News.

"Seasonalities are going to start kicking in here sooner rather than later. The recent weakness you've seen here was due to long lengths, managed money, spec traders. They took some off the table. But we haven't violated any major level," Lusk said. "$1,880-$1,900 is still a key resistance for gold."

Right now, gold is managing to hold the $1,830 level, which means the metal is up 20% since the start of the year, said Lusk. This is impressive, considering that gold has been in a consolidation mode for the past few months.

Until year-end, gold is likely to grind higher, he noted. "It will be a slow process into the year-end as we head towards $1,850-$1,900."

The macro picture has not changed, Lusk added. "Until you get vaccine widely distributed, gold will still do well, especially with printing presses rolling again. Every time you print more of something, it is worth less. That's why the appeal for gold, silver, and cryptos," he said.

Record coronavirus deaths, stimulus, Brexit, Fed

There are five key drivers to keep an eye on next week that could significantly impact the gold market — record coronavirus deaths in the U.S., fiscal stimulus, Brexit chaos, the Federal Reserve monetary policy meeting, and macro data

The stimulus is still "up in the air," said Kitco Metals global trading director Peter Hug.

The contention between the Democrats and Republicans is around the issues of business liability and state aid.

"I am a little disappointed that when gold broke through $1,850, it didn't run towards my target of $1,925. But that call was on the back of the stimulus package being passed this week. And now it looks like it ran into trouble. They have until next Friday when they break for Christmas," Hug said.

Hug still sees a chance for $1,925 an ounce next week if gold can hold above $1,850 an ounce. On the downside, he does not foresee a move below $1,800 an ounce.

The pressure is building to get the $900 billion stimulus passed as coronavirus deaths are now reaching record highs on a daily basis. Thursday saw another 2,902 U.S. deaths being reported, a day after the country saw a record 3,253 people died. This pace is projected to continue until the end of winter, according to Reuters.

Final hours of Brexit negotiations over this weekend are also adding a layer of fear, which is working in favor of gold, noted Hug.

"This morning, you had support at the $1,825 level, and it bounced, then Boris Johnson announced that it is likely that Britain would leave the E.U. without a trade deal. That will create some financial issues between the U.K. and E.U. in the new year. This has already triggered some fear and was a catalyst for gold," Hug explained.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson told reporters on Friday: "It's looking very, very likely we'll have to go for a solution that I think will be wonderful for the U.K., we'll be able to do exactly what we want from January 1, it will obviously be different from what we set out to achieve."

The current deadline for negotiations expires on Sunday, but economists are not ruling out an extension.

"There is a general sense that talks could stretch into next week," said ING developed market economist James Smith. "Talks reportedly remain stuck on the issue of the level playing field, and specifically what happens if either side decides to tighten up the likes of their labor/environmental standards in the future. Prime Minister Boris Johnson has publicly pushed back on the idea that the U.K. could be open to tariffs should the E.U. decide to unilaterally increase these standards in the future."

However, the biggest macro event in the U.S. next week will be the Federal Reserve monetary policy meeting on Wednesday.

"Given this situation, the Federal Reserve will retain a dovish bias and continue to emphasize the need for ongoing fiscal support," said ING chief international economist James Knightley. "Additional quantitative easing looks unlikely, but they could potentially focus more of their current purchases at the long end of the curve, which would flatten the yield curve. But given the 10Y is still below 1%, there seems little need to do it at this stage."

Hug also noted that the Fed will remain very accommodative and might stress the necessity of more fiscal stimulus.

 

Data to watch

Next week will be the last busy week for developed markets before the Christmas holidays set in, said ING economists.

On the docket are the N.Y. Empire State manufacturing index and industrial production on Tuesday, retail sales and the Federal Reserve meeting on Wednesday, and finally the building permits, housing starts, jobless claims, and the Philadelphia Fed manufacturing index on Thursday.

Analysts will be carefully watching the negative impact of rising coronavirus cases and additional lockdown measures being introduced across the U.S.

"The economic strains from the spike in Covid-19 are becoming increasingly apparent. There was already a loss of momentum in the U.S. November jobs report, but the latest initial claims data suggests the containment measures to try and protect healthcare systems are closing businesses which, in turn, are laying off staff," said Knightley. "We should be braced for more bad news on jobs given it is likely that the containment measures and business closures will spread to more and more states."

By Anna Golubova

For Kitco News
 

Kinesis Money

David – http://markethive.com/david-ogden

What makes gold a strategic asset?

Gold benefits from diverse sources of demand: as an investment, a reserve asset, a luxury good and a technology component. It is highly liquid, no one’s liability, carries no credit risk, and is scarce, historically preserving its value over time.

Gold can enhance a portfolio in four key ways:

• generate long-term returns (Chart 3)
• act as a diversifier and mitigate losses in times of market stress (Chart 6)
• provide liquidity with no credit risk (Chart 7)
• improve overall portfolio performance. (Chart 8)

Our analysis illustrates that adding between 3% and 11% in gold to an average European investor’s portfolio over the past decade would have resulted in higher risk-adjusted returns.²

New decade, renewed challenges

European investors have seen turbulent times in the last decade. The sovereign debt crisis which immediately followed the Global Financial Crisis highlighted the need for robust risk management. As a new decade has begun, investors face an expanding list of challenges around asset management and portfolio construction.¹

Persistent ultra-low interest rates

European investors have had to endure low and negative interest rates since the Global Financial Crisis. As with previous crises, and more recently the onset of COVID-19, policy makers continue to navigate their way through by keeping rates low in order to support economic growth. But low interest rates can push investors to seek out riskier assets at elevated valuation levels to achieve higher returns. Persistently low interest rates also reduce the opportunity cost of holding gold and highlight its attributes as a source of genuine, long-term returns – particularly when compared to historically high levels of global negative-yielding debt – and provide much needed diversification.

The impact of loose monetary policy could also lead to unintended consequences on asset performance and distort asset allocations for years to come. Additionally, widespread fiscal stimuli and ballooning government debt are raising concerns about a long-term run up of inflation.

Trade tensions and geopolitical uncertainty

Investors in the region are faced with several geopolitical risks, both local and global. The uncertainty and volatility, both financially and politically, caused by the UK’s decision to leave the European Union (“Brexit”) has posed a serious risk to investor portfolios. Beyond this, a deterioration of relations between the US and China, as well as greater levels of protectionism and trade tensions presents a significant threat to global demand This adds up to a very real risk for European economies, with Germany, France, the Netherlands, and Italy in the top 10 exporting nations globally.³

ESG considerations

Environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues are now decisive in shaping asset selection or strategies. According to Mercer, 89% of European investors now take ESG factors into account when choosing investments.⁴ This is in line with wider societal expectations but also driven by a host of legal and regulatory changes. The moves towards an increased understanding of this wider set of risks, and actions to mitigate their negative impacts, has also been a key factor in shaping the evolution of the gold supply chain, as well as gold’s developing role as a climate-change risk mitigation asset.⁵

The role of gold

Investors in Europe have long recognised the benefits of gold. Per capita gold consumption in Germany and Switzerland is among the highest in the world.⁶ However, institutional investors also stand to benefit from allocating a proportion of their portfolio to gold. In today’s environment, we believe that gold has an increasingly relevant role to play in helping European investors tackle the risk and uncertainty that lies ahead.

Kinesis Money

David – http://markethive.com/david-ogden

Year-end surprise in store for gold? 3 weeks left in 2020

Gold is in recovery mode but is this a start of another bull run or just a reaction to an oversold drop in November? This is exactly what Kitco News asked the analysts this week and the optimists prevailed.

Just a bit of background here, gold rose back above $1,800 an ounce in December and even attempted to hit a key level of $1,850 several times. Analysts say that once that level is breached, gold could be ready to approach $1,900. After that, the key resistance level becomes $1,925, which would then clear the path towards $1,975.

Triggers to watch are raging coronavirus numbers, stimulus talks, equities performance, and the Fed meeting next week.

Standard Chartered said that despite some short-term obstacles, gold will return to its peak of $2,000 in the next couple of months. It added that vaccine and economic recovery will not be felt until the second half of next year.

TD Securities told its clients the meltdown in gold is likely over, adding that gold will keep rising north of $2,000 in 2021.

Another major topic this week was bitcoin and the debate whether it is stealing attention away from gold.

Singapore's United Overseas Bank wrote in a report that bitcoin's massive surge in popularity could be PARTLY to blame for gold's drop in November, but it is far from being the only reason.

JPMorgan Chase went even further, saying that bitcoin's wider adoption is having a direct impact on gold. And this could trigger a major shift in institutional allocation between the two assets.

JPMorgan strategists said: "The adoption of bitcoin by institutional investors HAS only begun … If this proves right, the price of gold would suffer from a structural headwind over the coming years."

In other news, Wells Fargo examined the role of cash in a portfolio and asked whether some are holding too much of it? The bank defined cash as "a temporary parking place for funds" and warned that it does not work long-term.

 

By Anna Golubova

For Kitco News

Kinesis Money

 

David – http://markethive.com/david-ogden

Billionaire Thomas Kaplan – Silver prices can 'absolutely' hit triple digits – Kitco News Exclusive

More than 20 years ago famed investor Thomas Kaplan made his first fortune in silver, buying options and turning that investment into one of the biggest zinc-silver mines in the world.

In an exclusive interview with Kitco News, the CEO of The Electrum Group says that he is now back in silver after going public with a new silver mine in Mexico. Last month Kaplan’s commodity investment fund went public with Gatos Silver (NYSE: GATO, TSX: GATO) with its producing Cerro Los Gatos Mine in Northern Mexico.

"I never really left silver. I just left the public domain. Coming back to silver just essentially means that we are, as it were, coming forward with assets that we have been nurturing for years," he said.

Kaplan said that Gatos Silver raised $170 million in its IPO and was one of the first precious metals companies to be listed directly on the New York Stock Exchange.

Kaplan has a second venture, a company that is developing the historic Sunshine Mine in Idaho, which produced in 100 years more than 360 million ounces of silver. Since buying it in bankruptcy a decade ago, the Electrum Group has managed to increase the mines resource from around 30 million to about 200 million inferred resources, Kaplan said.

"When we acquired it out of bankruptcy over a decade ago, the general zeitgeists was that it was burnt out," he said. "We think we have just scratched the surface. I have no doubt that this mine will produce silver again."

Kaplan said that his long term plan is to take the Sunshine Mine public; however, he added that he is not in any hurry.

"When you have a great project time is always on your side and we have a great project," he said.

Looking at silver prices he remains bullish on the precious metal.

"I always say that silver is gold on steroids and I'm wildly bullish on gold," he said.

Not only does he see silver prices pushing back to its record highs above $50 an ounce, but Kaplan said that there is no reason why the metal can’t get to $100 an ounce, especially as gold prices continue to rally.

"Once silver stabilizes and gold is going up as some monetary metals, silver then starts to follow gold and then it gets octane and it surpasses gold," he said. "That's what happened during the financial crisis and we are starting to see that again.

Not only is silver benefiting as a monetary metal as central banks around the world continue to pump liquidity into financial markets, but Kaplan said that the metal will also benefit as the global economy recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Looking at gold prices Kaplan noted that the precious metal was in a bull market before the world was hit by the coronavirus and he added that it will remain in a bull market after the virus is dealt with.

"All the pandemic has served to do is to make people now understand that the question of money and what is money when clearly it can be printed at will, he said. "The debasement of currencies is obviously very, very bullish for gold."

By Neils Christensen

For Kitco News

 

Kinesis Money

 

David – http://markethive.com/david-ogden

Gold plummets as stimulus negotiations stall and vaccine headway

Gold prices tumbled in active trading today, with the most active February 2021 Comex contract trading to a low of $1828 before recovering. As of 5:04 PM EST gold futures are currently fixed at $1842.90 after factoring in a net decline of $32 (-1.71%).

Today the Wall Street Journal reported that the United States is about to begin, “one of the most daunting public-health efforts in generations: swiftly distributing a Covid-19 vaccine across all 50 states, each of which will determine who gets priority.”

The WSJ also reported that the FDA announced that the first Covid-19 vaccine being considered for use in the United States has, “met the prescribed success criteria in a clinical study, paving the way for the agency to green-light distribution as early as this weekend.” This report also stated that “Pfizer is seeking what is known as an authorization for emergency use, a kind of interim clearance the FDA grants during pandemics to speed up the use of urgently needed medicines.”

The Covid-19 vaccine developed jointly by Pfizer pharmaceutical and BioNTech is awaiting a decision by the Food and Drug Administration to begin vaccinations and grant this vaccine emergency authorization. Data suggests that this vaccine has a 95% efficacy rate and was well tolerated in a trial composed of 44,000 individuals.

A statement by Pfizer’s Chief Executive Albert Bourla said, “Filing in the U.S. represents a critical milestone in our journey to deliver a Covid-19 vaccine to the world and we now have a more complete picture of both the efficacy and safety profile of our vaccine, giving us confidence in its potential,”.

Concurrently the bipartisan fiscal stimulus proposal has been met with opposition, however, according to Reuters, “U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said on Wednesday that lawmakers were still looking for a path toward agreement on COVID-19 aid, as the U.S. House of Representatives prepared to vote on a one-week funding bill to provide more time for a deal.”

Reuters also reported that both Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer rejected McConnell’s offer and warned that the Republican Trump administration's $916 billion proposals “must not be allowed to obstruct” the bipartisan talks.

The lack of any real progress which would lead to a fiscal stimulus package acceptable by the House, Senate, and current administration has certainly diminished the bullish market sentiment for gold, which led to today’s strong price decline along with vaccine approval being one step closer. Most analysts including myself are still working under the assumption that it is not if a fiscal stimulus package can be approved. Rather it is how much capital will be allocated and when and aid package can be passed.

 

By Gary Wagner

Contributing to kitco.com

 

Kinesis Money

 

David – http://markethive.com/david-ogden