Commodities Brief – Precious metals search for direction, WTI crude faces headwinds and struggles to hold 90.00

Gold prices seem to have found a level of price stability, despite the passage of the fabled sequester in the United States. Asian buying has helped buoy prices Monday, as the yellow metal is operating in positive territory, looking to recover last week’s losses. Technically speaking, gold has fallen below its 50-and 200-day SMA, however its 20-day SMA is capping any potential upside for now and acting as temporary resistance. The price of gold is expected to fluctuate this week as reverberations surrounding US demand could fail to provide stability in the near-term. In these moments gold is trading at USD $1574.91 per oz.

Silver cannot beach 28.80
Silver has operated unevenly during the overnight and European session thus far, hovering around levels seen at last weeks close. In particular, an upward move towards the 28.65 level recently stalled (previously the white metal made a run at 28.80 overnight), easing the prices back to USD $28.61 per oz. presently. Recently, silver moved above its 10-day EMA and remains well fortified by support at the 28.25 level, indicating a healthy amount of room for a rebound in prices during the week ahead.


Crude falls on demand concerns
WTI Crude oil has started off the week facing headwinds from the lingering fallout of the sequester in the United States. Indeed, the general inaction on both sides is feared to dent economic recovery in the US and soften demand. The price of crude has continued to edge lower, falling below the 91.00 level overnight. At the time of writing, crude prices are negotiating a price of USD $90.33/bbl, threatening to fall below the psychological 90.00 for the first time since January. According to a report by the International Monetary Fund last week, the passing of the aforementioned spending cuts could potentially sap 0.5% of 2013s economic growth in the US, however many experts peg the effects to surface in Q2 2013.