Gold and silver move marginally higher heading into the EU open
London (Jan 19) Gold (0.07%) and silver (0.90%) trade marginally higher heading into the EU open this morning. Risk sentiment improved overnight as the Nikkei 225 (1.39%) and ASX (1.19%) closed higher. In China, the Shanghai Composite (-0.83%) struggled but in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng closed a massive 2.59% in the black. In the FX complex, AUD and NZD bounced back against the dollar as the antipodeans outperformed again.
Today is Donald Trump's last full day as President of the United States. He is also not expected to attend Joe Biden's inauguration tomorrow but a separate event has been planned with this own supporters, let's hope there is no trouble there.
Overnight there was news from the Chinese Administration. The nations State Planner stated that there will be no sudden shift in monetary policy in 2021.
As the US were off yesterday due to Martin Luther King Jr day it was a very quiet session. However, Janet Yellen was on the wires and stated that the US should ‘act big’ when it comes to the COVID-19 recovery. She added,"Right now, with interest rates at historic lows, the smartest thing we can do is act big. In the long run, I believe the benefits will far outweigh the costs".
On the coronavirus front, Germany may be extending their latest lockdown beyond January as they struggle to cope with the new variant. Some UK media outlets have also reported that the UK could remain in full lockdown till March or April.
In Europe, Italian PM Conte won a confidence vote as the vote came in at 321 vs 259 in favour of the of the PM. There were also some separate votes which suggested that Conte wanted to maintain his power even if he fails to achieve an outright majority in the senate vote although he could be forced to step down if he is defeated.
Looking ahead to the rest of the session highlights include German ZEW, South African gold production numbers, comments from BoE's Haldane and Janet Yellen gets treasury secretary confirmation hearing.
By 0830am EST, spot gold has fallen $11 from the morning high to $1,837, while spot silver slid to $25.10.
Reuters
