Oil price snaps winning streak but gold price grinds higher still
Outlook on Brent crude oil and gold amid low volume trading into year-end.

Brent crude oil snaps winning streak
Oil - Brent Crude futures, which on Wednesday nearly touched the 200-day simple moving average (SMA) at 81.79 amid the prospect of a prolonged Israeli military campaign in Gaza and Iran’s increasing involvement in the conflict as well as US rate cut expectations boosting global growth and energy demand outlooks, dropped back towards the breached October-to-December downtrend line at 79.24.
The fall in the oil price was triggered by major shipping firms returning to the Red Sea route following the formation of a US-led maritime task force which is to protect commercial vessels in the area and as industry data showed that US crude inventories jumped by 1.84 million barrels last week, the biggest weekly gain in five weeks.
Into year-end this week’s high, together with the 200- and 55-day SMAs, at 81.79 to 82.10 are expected to cap the upside while Tuesday’s low at 78.39 may well hold the downside.

Gold trades in three-week highs

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