Technical Review - Gold and Silver Continue Their Recovery, Crude Oil Left Lacking Bullish Cues Following US Data Deterioration

Crude oil has regained its footing in Asian trading today after WTI slumped by more than 1 percent on Friday. A disappointing US jobs report likely raised some concerns about the US economic recovery and weighed on the commodity. Similarly the miss from NFPs has left the greenback lacking momentum. Which in turn has helped the precious metals maintain their ascent today (silver is leading the pack; +0.49 percent).

Looking ahead; a light US economic docket may do little to re-inspire the US Dollar bulls, which could keep gold and silver elevated. Yet the fundamental drive for a more pronounced recovery may be missing. This is in light of ebbing geopolitical tensions, that threaten to sap safe-haven buying of the alternative assets.

Finally, copper has looked past a mixed set of trade balance figures from China, the world’s largest consumer of the commodity. Chinese imports of unwrought copper slipped for the fourth consecutive month to the lowest since April 2013. However, this concerning slump was offset by a rebound in ore and concentrate demand.

Chinese New Loans and CPI data still loom on the horizon this week. Yet copper’s muted reaction to today’s figures raises a question mark over whether the upcoming “top-tier” data will witness much of a response.

Bigger picture it may be optimistic to expect strong stimulus from Chinese monetary authorities in the near-term. This is given their desire to try and reign in credit growth and cool a ‘bubbly’ housing market. In turn this could cap copper’s upside potential.