Gold is once again challenging the $1,600 resistance area…as of 5:45 am Pacific, the yellow metal is up $4 an ounce at $1,594…Silver has gained a dime to $28.91…Copper is a penny higher at $3.54…Crude Oil has advanced 66 cents to $93.69 while the U.S. Dollar Index has dropped over one-third of a point to 82.16…
Barclays Lowers 2013 Average Gold price
Citing âinvestor fatigue,â Barclays has lowered its 2013 average Gold price forecast to $1,646 an ounce, the firm said yesterday…âWe have revised lower our Gold price forecast, as the downside risks to the outlook have risen while the upside catalysts have receded…there is scope for Gold to gain traction, given the forthcoming debt ceiling debate, but investor fatigue has weighed upon prices,â the bank said…Gold prices are likely to remain in a range, with support coming from physical demand and the low interest rate environment, but the upside is likely to be capped unless the market can find a new catalyst, they said…Barclays said physical buying, particularly in China, has responded to the lower Gold prices and is providing solid support…
Today’s Markets
Asian markets were mixed overnight, though Japan’s Nikkei average closed at a fresh 4.5-year high on continued optimism over monetary stimulus…the Nikkei climbed 180 points or 1.45% to close at 12561…China’s Shanghai Composite posted a more modest 8-point gain to finish the week at 2278…European shares are moderately lower in late trading as a European Union (EU) summit continues in Brussels and finance ministers gear up for a late night of talks aimed at thrashing out a bailout program for troubled Cyprus…EU heads of state continued are discussing the region’s austerity and growth policies, rising youth unemployment and whether to give countries such as France and Spain leeway on EU budget rules…stock index futures in New York as of 5:45 am Pacific are pointing toward a flat opening on Wall Street…the Dow has been up every day so far this month, advancing 10 consecutive sessions for the first time since 1996, while it’s also now set to post its 11th straight weekly gain…the S&P 500, meanwhile, finished just 2 points shy of its record close yesterday and is just 13 points from its all-time intra-day high of 1575 set in October, 2007…former Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan told CNBC this morning that “irrational exuberance” is the last term he’d use to describe today’s market…he said in a “Squawk Box” interview that stocks by historical standards are “significantly undervalued” even considering the recent moves higher…meanwhile, the Venture Exchange, which was one of the world’s best-performing markets in 2009 and 2010, continues to struggle as it fell another 3 points yesterday to close at 1113…
U.S. consumer prices recorded their largest increase in nearly four years in February as the cost of gasoline surged, but details of the report this morning (released at 5:30 am Pacific) showed no sign of a pickup in inflation to trouble the Federal Reserve…the Labor Department said its consumer price index increased 0.7% last month, the largest gain since June, 2009, after being flat in January…gasoline accounted for about three-quarters of the spike in consumer inflation…economists polled by Reuters had expected the CPI to advance 5%…other economic data is due out shortly including industrial production (6:15 am Pacific) and consumer sentiment (6:55 am Pacific)…
Updated Dow Chart
The Dow is obviously short-term overbought at the moment but its March momentum may not subside until it climbs above 14700 according to Fibonacci levels worked out by John in the 5-year monthly chart below…
Magor Corporation (MCC, TSX-V)
Video-conferencing upstart Magor Corporation begins trading on the Venture today under the symbol “MCC” after raising nearly $6 million at 59 cents…MCC was the qualifying transaction for capital pool company Biovest Corp. 1 (BVC.P)…MCC’s technology has landed some important clients in Canada and throughout the world, and its chairman is Terry Matthews – the founder of Newbridge Networks which got taken out 13 years ago for $7 billion…Magor has impressive revenue growth potential with high margins and is definitely worthy of our readers’ due diligence (www.magorcorp..com)…
GoldQuest Mining (GQC, TSX-V) Updated Chart
GoldQuest Mining (GQC, TSX-V) has been trading within a support band between 40 and 48.5 cents since late February…there are some encouraging signs in John’s 2.5-year weekly chart below, but the imminent possibility of the 200-day moving average (SMA) reversing to the downside is a concern…geologically, one can put forth a very strong case that GoldQuest will make additional discoveries this year in its current 30,000-metre drill program in the DR…the stock was obviously very volatile last year…expect more of the same throughout the balance of 2013…
SilverCrest Mines (SVL, TSX-V) Chart Update
Note: Jon holds a share position in MCC.