Dollar weakness coupled with a risk-off market sentiment have been highly supportive of gold pricing today. Both the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite closed in essence unchanged, while the Dow Jones industrial average closed lower, creating a risk-off market environment favoring the safe haven asset class.

There has been a lot of positive comments coming out of Washington vis-à-vis President Trump this week. According to the president It seems as though negotiations between the United States and China had made substantial headway.

Both gold and silver traded sharply lower, before recovering and closing in positive territory. Gold futures basis the most active June Comex contract traded to an intraday low of $1284.90 before recovering. As of 4:00 PM Eastern standard time gold futures are currently up $2.20 and fixed at $1297.50.

An odd mixed bag in the precious metals’ markets today, with gold and palladium trading lower, and silver and platinum trading higher. This all with dollar weakness providing tailwind support for all metal prices.

We have a mixed bag in the precious metals today with gold and palladium trading higher on the day but platinum and silver trading lower. In terms of percentage gains, once again it is palladium that is leading the way.

Gold, silver and platinum are all trading lower today. Gold pricing had the greatest percentage drawdown on the day, with the most active June futures contract currently trading at $1291.70 which is a decline of $6.80, or .52%. Silver futures are coming in second with a decline today of $.04 which is a .26% drawdown. Currently most active silver futures are fixed at $15.07.

The precious metals experienced a recovery today. However, the degree of upside momentum varies greatly from metal to metal. Gold had the smallest percentage gain on the day, with most active June 2019 Comex futures trading up by +0.13%. This amounts to a net gain of $1.70 on the day, with current pricing now at $1296.80.

Looking at price changes today across the board in the precious metals complex, you might think that there is nothing good about it, and in the short-term that is probably correct. So, let’s begin today’s article with the bad.

The Bad: Technically Speaking Major Chart Damage Has Occurred

For the first time since late August of 2018 palladium futures pricing has broken below its 50-day moving average. Palladium’s historical rise began on August 14th, 2018 after pricing bottomed to $815 per troy ounce. Within the next three months palladium pricing had breached $1,000 per ounce trading to a high of $1135 by October 23^rd of last year.

Considering that since the beginning of March when gold futures were trading at a low $1280 per ounce, gold has gained some real distance in value during the month. Even with today’s modest decline, gold futures basis the most active April contract is trading at $1315.70.