Tepid Jobs Numbers Do Not Slow Down the Dow

Even with today’s tepid jobs report numbers, U.S. equities continued their historic climb, once again closing at a new record high. The Dow Jones Industrial Average breached 25,000 yesterday, and the enormous bullish sentiment drove the Dow over 200 points higher. As of 3:50 PM Eastern standard time, the Dow is trading up about 211 points at 25,284.

Earlier this week, the NASDAQ composite index closed above 7000 for the first time in history and finished stronger on Friday gaining 48 points to close at 7126. The Standard & Poor’s 500 also closed at a new record high on Friday, up 15 points at 2738.

The new record highs across the board in U.S. equities are the direct result of the incredible bullish risk-on environment currently seen in U.S. and global equities.

The fact that precious metals have held up so well, and in fact have had a robust and dynamic rally over the last couple of weeks in tandem with this historical rally in equities is impressive, to say the least.

As of 4:00 PM Eastern standard time, gold futures are trading at $1321.30 which is a net decline of $.30 on the day. Gold pricing was lower as traders awaited today’s U.S. employment numbers, and began to trade higher as the actual figures released were well below earlier estimates. By the close of today’s trading session, gold futures traded off of their lows and closed in essence unchanged.

Gold, however, is showing the first signs of a market consolidating. This price action could merely be a precursor to the market forming a base at $1320 before moving higher.

However, it could also be a precursor to a slight correction that will be followed by another strong upside rally.

In either case, this recent rally in gold has been most impressive. It is the first time since 2011 when gold was higher for ten consecutive days. Gold pricing has gained more than $80 in value since trading to $1238 per ounce on December 11^th. Most importantly, our technical studies indicate there is more upside to come after the market consolidates or has a shallow correction.

Wishing you as always, good trading,