Finally - a pull-back in precious metals

22 apr

Gold and silver were sharply lower first thing this morning, and they extended their losses during the afternoon. It may sound like a bit of a cop-out in terms of an explanation, but both metals were well overdue a significant pull-back. Gold in particular, has rallied relentlessly since mid-February with little in the way of a pause. Now traders face the same question for precious metals as they do for equities: is that it for the correction, or is there more to come? The main difference between the asset classes is that the correction in stocks has been going for a bit longer than in either gold or silver. That means that today’s sell-off in metals could be just the start of something bigger. But countering that view is the knowledge that when precious metals experience the type of gains they’ve seen over the last ten weeks, pull-backs can be deep, but also quite short-lived. Despite this, both metals are still a long way above any significant levels of support. Will they back-fill and retest, or just power on regardless?
Two observations on silver: the daily chart shows that $30 is increasingly important as a resistance level. And $26 marks significant support.