Commodities Brief – Precious metals trade sideways after upbeat US data, crude oil surrenders earlier gains but holds above 90.00

Gold has experienced an uneven string of trading sessions Wednesday, as investors grappled increased demand from Asia and the publication of upbeat US ADP Employment data. The yellow metal has refused to budge from its narrow consolidation thus far, held just below the 1579.00 level (intraday maximum). Technically speaking, gold is trading at its 200-day SMA, awaiting further signals to move in either direction. At the time of writing, the spot price of gold is hovering at USD $1576.95 per oz. at the onset of the US open.

Silver trades sideways
Silver has experienced its own set of turns Wednesday, failing to break the 28.90 level during European trading (28.83 intraday maximum). The white metal continues to be helped by a positive MACD, though it remains to be seen whether the price can retake the 29.00 level. The additional trickle of economic data, specifically the Factory Orders figure today at 15:00 GMT, could help push the price of silver in either direction, which in these moments has settled at USD $28.71 per oz. ahead of the US open.

Crude oil returns to familiar ground
Earlier surges in WTI crude oil have been surrendered across European trading today, with the death of Hugo Chavez in Venezuela creating a stir across markets. While the ultimate fallout of Venezuela is still unknown, investors seem to be betting on the status quo, and as such the price of crude has returned to levels seen earlier this week. In these moments crude oil is in familiar territory at USD $90.56/bbl Wednesday. Of paramount importance is the psychological barrier and strong support at 90.00, a loss of which could signal a drop much lower.