Gold has risen to once again to a new high for the year

Now for the fifth consecutive day gold pricing has closed higher on the day. Since hitting the low of $1566 on February 12, gold has continued to have moderate to solid gains. Yesterday for the first time since January 8 gold prices challenged the former record yearly high at $1613. Futures opened two

Now for the fifth consecutive day gold pricing has closed higher on the day. Since hitting the low of $1566 on February 12, gold has continued to have moderate to solid gains. Yesterday for the first time since January 8 gold prices challenged the former record yearly high at $1613. Futures opened two dollars above the former yearly high of $1613 at $1615. After trading to an intraday high today of $1626.60, which is now the highest price point gold has reached this year, a price not seen for the last seven years.

As of 5:00 PM EST gold futures basis the most active April contract is currently fixed at $1622.30, which is a net gain of $10.50 (+0.65%) on the day. With the exception of platinum, the other precious metals in the futures complex all closed higher on the day with palladium exhibiting the largest percentage gain once again.

Palladium futures gained +0.82%, which amounts to a $21.10 addition taking palladium futures to $2592.30, obviously the highest value ever recorded for a single troy ounce of palladium. Silver gained fractionally on the day, and after adding today’s gain of 3 ½ cents, silver futures are fixed at $18.345.

Considering the consistent gains amongst gold, silver and palladium, platinum bucked the trend today breaking back below $1000 per ounce after today’s decline of $22.50 (-2.24%). Bitcoin futures also had an interesting day after fighting to hold $10,000 per ounce earlier this week, market forces drove the crypto currency below $10,000 after today’s decline of $590 (-5.77%) on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange settled at $9635. Our current technical studies indicate that minor support is at $9500, with major support at $9156, which is based on the 50% retracement level of last year’s rally.

There were two factors influencing market sentiment today. The first is the continued concern that the coronavirus (COV-19) is continuing to spread with no available treatment. According to the Washington Post the total number of identified cases of the Cov-19 virus is now at 74,546 infections, and the death toll has risen to 2,118. Most alarming is the continued spreading of the virus be on Chinese borders. The first Corona death amongst the Diamond Princess passengers was acknowledged today, and in South Korea health experts are warning of mounting cases beyond China.

“Authorities worldwide warned about the spread of the coronavirus beyond China on Thursday as Japan reported the first two deaths from the Diamond Princess cruise liner, South Korea reported its first fatality, and new cases in Iran sparked fears about many new cases appearing in the Middle East.”

Although some new sources have reported that the rate of spreading has slowed significantly, the majority of health officials acknowledged that there is no real evidence exists to back up that assumption.

The second factor influencing today’s bullish move in gold was the release of last month’s FOMC meeting which confirmed the Federal Reserve’s concern about potential long-lasting effects on the global economy if this epidemic continues to grow.

Wishing you as always, good trading,