Oil, gold and silver prices stabilize ahead of US CPI print

Brent crude oil holds decline despite US stockpiles rise

Brent crude oil prices again fell on Wednesday amid higher-than-expected US stockpiles but lingering tensions in the Middle East led to a minor bounce.

Technically the situation hasn’t changed in that the oil price continues to sideways trade within a triangle formation, the break out of which may well determine the ensuing medium-term trend.

Support is seen along the December-to-January uptrend line at 75.74, at Monday’s 75.21 low and last week’s 74.81 low. Were it to be fallen through, the 7 December low at 73.69 would represent the next downside target ahead of the 72.50 December low.

Resistance remains to be seen along the October-to-January downtrend line at 78.74 ahead of last week’s 79.35 high. Were it to be overcome, a bullish reversal towards the late-December high and the 200-day simple moving average (SMA) at 81.44 to 81.74 would likely be on the cards.

Gold price side-lined ahead of US CPI print

Spot gold’s drop from its $2,088 per troy ounce late-December peak amid an appreciating US dollar has led to Monday’s $2,017 low being reached, above which the precious metal has been range trading ever since.

Slightly further down support can be found along the 55-day SMA at $2,015 and, more importantly, between the October and late-November highs at $2,009 to $2,007.

Resistance above Wednesday’s $2,040 high can be seen along the December-to-January downtrend channel resistance line at $2,044 and also at Friday’s $2,064 peak. While remaining below it, downside pressure should retain the upper hand.

Silver price still hovers above support

Spot silver’s descent from its late-December per troy ounce high at $24.60 on the back of an appreciating US dollar took it to last week’s $22.84 low, above which it has been sideways trading in a low volatility range since. Slightly below $22.84 sits the $22.51 December low which should act as support, were it to be revisited. Further down lies the November low at $21.89.

Minor resistance above Tuesday’s $23.37 intraday high can be found between Friday’s high and the 55- and 200-day SMA at $23.62 to $23.64. While this resistance area caps, downside pressure should dominate.