Gold and silver are marginally lower ahead of the European open

LONDON (Mar 25)  Gold is heading into the European session 0.09% lower trading at $1955/oz. Silver is also marginally lower trading at 25.51/oz. In the rest of the commodities complex, copper has risen half a percent and spot WTI is 0.77% higher. 

Risk sentiment overnight was once again mixed. The Nikkei 225 (0.14%) and ASX (0.26%) pushed higher while the Shanghai Composite fell 1.17%. Futures in Europe are pointing towards a moderately lower cash open. 

In FX markets, the greenback suffered overnight. The high-flying USD/JPY retraced half a percent and EURUSD rose 0.27%. In the crypto space, BTC/USD rose 0.37% to trade at $44,283.

News from overnight:

Ukraine tells the US it needs 500 Javelins and 500 Stingers per day.

Senior US official says Russia will emerge from its invasion of Ukraine weaker.

ECB's Schnabel says if Europe enters a deep recession the Bank may need to reconsider asset purchases.

BoJ Gov Kuroda says Japan's inflation is driven mainly by higher energy costs. He also added the bank is buying sufficient JGBs.

U.K. vehicle production has its weakest February since 2009.

Magnitude 5.2 earthquake near Fukushima prefecture in Japan.

U.K. consumer confidence falls for the 4th month in a row.

U.K. February retail sales -0.3% vs +0.6% m/m expected.

Japan services PPI for February 1.1% y/y (vs. expected 1.2%).

Looking ahead to the rest of the session highlights include German IFO, University of Michigan data, EU council meeting, EU/US meeting, comments from Fed's Williams, Barking and ECB's de Cos.

KITCO