Gold price holds up, while WTI crude price and natural gas price rally
Gold holds steady
Gold prices stubbornly refuse to give way to any downside, resisting turns lower yesterday and on Wednesday.
The price continues to hold near its recent record highs, and to all intents and purposes another push higher may well result. A strengthening US dollar has halted progress higher, but the overall uptrend is still in place.
So far there is little sign of any catalyst to the downside, though a close back below $2600.00 might signal that a pullback has begun.
WTI lifted by talk of attacks on Iranian oil
WTI crude oil was given a boost yesterday on reports that the US was considering allowing Israel to strike Iran’s oil facilities.
The commodity is heading for its best week since February 2023 and has managed a close above the 50-day simple moving average (SMA) for the first time sine July.
Overall, this is still a counter-trend rally for the time being, but Middle East news may well continue to provide the fundamental underpinning for further gains. Having cleared the August lows the price now targets the 200-day SMA at $77.17.
Natural gas rally returns to spring highs
Late August, September and early October have seen a huge rally in natural gas which has been just as impressive as the summer declines.
The natural gas price has now recouped almost all the losses from June and July and stands poised to push to fresh one-year highs. This week has seen buying momentum take firm control, with little sign of any sustainable reversal.
While the price looks overstretched from trendline support, there is as yet no sign of any budding bearish momentum. A close above 3194 targets 3370, and then to the October 2023 highs around 3700.