Metals tick higher as Omicron panic recedes
12:32, 29 November 2021
Metal commodities edged higher on Monday as last Friday’s panic over the announcement of the new variant of ‘Omicron’ Covid-19 seems to be subsiding.
Spot gold rose 0.2% to trade at $1,792 per troy ounce (oz t) by 12:30 in London and silver gained 0.7%, rising to $23.24 per oz t.
US Treasury yields were also recovering, with the yield on the 10-year benchmark up five basis points to 1.54% following Friday’s dramatic swings.
Platinum was up 2.1% higher to $970/oz t, while Palladium rose by 2.6% to $1782/oz t.
Copper recovered by 1.8% to $4.36 per pound on Monday following a sharp decline on Friday on worries that the new Covid variant might stymie global growth.
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Metal commodities performance heatmap – 29 November 2021
Metal commodities performance heatmap as of 29 November 2021, 12:30 GMT – Gold
As of writing, spot gold was last trading at $1,793/oz t, up by 0.2%.
Last week, gold erased its monthly gains on fears of a faster rate hike by the US Federal Reserve (the Fed) in 2022. However, should the new Omicron variant dampen growth prospects, this might reduce expectations for rate hikes in 2022, and could potentially provide the precious metal with some breathing room.
Gold prices are still 2.8% down from a week ago and 5.5% lower year-to-date.
On a technical level, the 50-day simple moving average (SMA) is nearing the 200-day SMA in the daily chart, and their crossing might reveal a “golden cross” – a technical pattern indicative of the start of a potential bullish trend.
Gold technical levels:
- 52-week high: $1,959
- 52-week low: $1,678
- 50-day moving average (one-day chart): $1,790.74
- 200-day moving average (one-day chart): $1,790.90
- 14-day relative strength index (RSI) (one-day chart): 42.8
Silver
Spot silver traded at $23.25/oz t, up by 0.7% in midday trading in London.
The value of silver has dropped by 13% so far this year, and by 5.4% in the past week alone.
Spot silver is now trading 1% below its 50-day SMA and 22% 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): $23.56
- 200-day moving average (one-day chart): $25.24
- 14-day relative strength index (RSI) (one-day chart): 42.02
Chart of the day: Gold outperformed silver in the week
Gold and silver weekly performance – Credit: KoyfinCopper
Copper was last trading at $4.36 per pound, up 1.8% on the day.
The news of the Omicron variant posed significant losses for industrial metals on Friday as fears of an economic slowdown dim the outlook for copper demand.
Today there are timid signs of a rebound in the industrial metals space amid rumours of milder consequences of the new variant.
Copper erased all its weekly gains and is now 0.6% lower from the previous week. Spot copper is now trading at 0.5% below its 50-day SMA and 11.1% below its 12-month highs ($4.90).
Copper technical levels:
- 52-week high: $4.90
- 52-week low: $3.32
- 50-day moving average (one-day chart): $4.38
- 200-day moving average (one-day chart): $4.34
- 14-day relative strength index (RSI) (one-day chart): 49.03
Platinum
Platinum was trading at $972/oz t, up 2.2% today. The precious metal has dropped by 4.8% from a month ago and by slightly more than 8% year-to-date.
Platinum is currently trading at 6.4% below its 50-day SMA and 27% 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): $1,037
- 200-day moving average (one-day chart): $1,020
- 14-day relative strength index (RSI) (one-day chart): 39.77
Palladium
Palladium was 2..6% up to $1,783/oz t by 12:30 in London.
Of the precious metals, palladium posted the worst weekly performance (-7.9%) and its value lost nearly 26% year-to-date. It is now trading 11% below its 50-day SMA.
Palladium technical levels:
- 52-week high: $3,017
- 52-week low: $1,837
- 50-day moving average (one-day chart): $2,004
- 200-day moving average (one-day chart): $2,473
- 14-day relative strength index (RSI) (one-day chart): 35.34
Read more: Gold shines amid growth worries caused by new variant Read more: Risk-sensitive currencies recover as Omicron worries subside
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