WTI and natural gas prices rally while gold slides
The short-term outlook on WTI and natural gas is bullish while that of gold remains bearish.
Gold flirts with the $1,700 mark
Gold continues to evolve in ten-month lows and now trades below the September 2021 low at $1,722 per troy ounce which acts as minor resistance whilst targeting the August 2021 low at $1,684 and also the June 2020 and March 2021 lows at $1,678 to $1,671.
In line with several other commodities, gold is thus trading well below pre-Russian invasion of Ukraine levels as the US dollar has reached multi-decade highs on safe-haven flows.
Minor resistance above Monday’s high at $1,724 can be seen at the 13 July high at $1,745 and also at the $1,752 to $1,754 8 July high and December 2021 low.
Natural gas rallies on Nordstream pipeline re-opening fears
Natural gas futures rallied by over 30% from its 5 July three-month low at $5.33 close to the 55-day simple moving average (SMA) at $7.54 amid fears that the planned July maintenance shutdown of the Nordstream 1 pipeline might be extended by Russia after it is meant to re-open on Thursday.
If this were to indeed be the case, a stratospheric rally in the price of natural gas would likely be seen which would take its price to well above the $10 mark.
Resistance on the way up lies between the 20 and 31 May as well as 9 June lows and 16 June high at $7.92 to $8.13. Minor support sits between the 14 June low and 29 June high at $7.02 to $6.95.
WTI likely to continue its sharp rally
West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil’s sharp rally from its 14 July $88.55 per barrel low accelerated on Monday when it rose by around 5% on a tight global market.
US President Joe Biden’s visit to Saudi Arabia failed to yield any increase in production, with Saudi ministers re-iterating that OPEC+ would base their policy decisions on market factors ahead of their meeting on 3 August.
The minor psychological $100 mark is about to be hit with the June low at $101.22 being next in line. Further up sits the 8 July high at $103.
Immediate upside pressure should be maintained while the price of oil stays above Friday’s high at $96.37. Below it meanders the 200-day SMA at $93.60 which underpins the price of WTI.
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