Metal commodities weaken as Omicron and Evergrande fears loom
12:17, 9 December 2021
Metal commodities weakened on Thursday as risk-off market sentiment grew following the UK’s new restrictions on Omicron cases and the announcement of a debt default by China’s property giant Evergrande.
By 14:30 GMT, spot gold was flat at $1,782 per ounce (oz), while spot silver fell 1.4% to $22.10 per troy ounce (oz t).
Platinum declined 0.6% to $952/oz while palladium sunk 1.55% to $1,809/oz.
Copper slipped 1.2% to $4.33 per pound as concerns about a Chinese housing market contagion weakened the industrial metal’s demand outlook.
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Metal commodities performance heatmap – 9 December 2021
Metal commodities performance heatmap as of 9 December 2021, 14:30 GMT – Credit: Capital.comGold
At time of writing, spot gold was last trading at $1,782/oz, unchanged on the day.
For 12 straight sessions, the closing price of gold has failed to break through the resistance of $1,790/oz.
Recently, a ‘golden cross’ formation – a technical pattern indicative of the start of a potential uptrend – emerged on the daily chart, as the 50-day simple moving average (SMA) crossed the 200-day SMA.
Gold prices are still 2.3% down from a month ago and 6.2% lower year-to-date.
Gold traders will now closely focus on tomorrow’s US Consumer Price Index inflation for November, which can offer clues for next week’s Fed meeting.
Gold technical levels:
- 52-week high: $1,959
- 52-week low: $1,678
- 50-day moving average (one-day chart): $1,796
- 200-day moving average (one-day chart): $1,792
- 14-day relative strength index (RSI) (one-day chart): 43.
Chart of the day: ‘Golden cross’ formation on gold 1-day price chart
Golden cross on gold 1-day chart – Credit: KoyfinSilver
Spot silver traded at $22.10/oz t, down by 1.8% today.
The value of silver has dropped by 16% so far this year and by 9.6% in the past month alone.
Spot silver is now trading 6.3% below its 50-day SMA and 26% below its 52-week highs ($29.89)
Silver technical levels:
- 52-week high: $29.89
- 52-week low: $21.44
- 50-day moving average (one-day chart): $23.58
- 200-day moving average (one-day chart): $25.03
- 14-day relative strength index (RSI) (one-day chart): 31.
Copper
Copper was last trading at $4.33 per pound, down 1.2% on the day.
This morning, the industrial metals complex suffered losses on concerns about broad contagion risk in China’s property sector, as developers China Evergrande Group and Kaisa Group were relegated to ‘limited default’ status by rating agency Fitch after missing offshore coupon payment.
Spot copper is now trading in line with its 200-day SMA, but 1.2% below the 50-day SMA, and is still 11.5% lower than year-to-date highs.
Copper technical levels:
- 52-week high: $4.90
- 52-week low: $3.45
- 50-day moving average (one-day chart): $4.39
- 200-day moving average (one-day chart): $4.34
- 14-day relative strength index (RSI) (one-day chart): 47.
Platinum
Platinum was trading at $952/oz, down 0.56% today.
Platinum has been among the worst performing metal over the past month, declining as much as 12%.
Platinum is currently trading at 5% below its 50-day SMA and 29% below its 12-month high ($1,337).
Platinum technical levels:
- 52-week high: $1,337
- 52-week low: $901
- 50-day moving average (one-day chart): $1,002
- 200-day moving average (one-day chart): $1,005
- 14-day relative strength index (RSI) (one-day chart): 35
Palladium
Palladium was 1.6% down to $1,809/oz.
Palladium prices are flat on the week (+0.03%) but they have lost 12% over the past month and 25% year-to-date.
With respect to current prices, the 50-day SMA sits around 8.5% higher and yearly highs are 40% above.
Palladium technical levels:
- 52-week high: $3,017
- 52-week low: $1,837
- 50-day moving average (one-day chart): $1,979
- 200-day moving average (one-day chart): $2,445
- 14-day relative strength index (RSI) (one-day chart): 40.