Gold and silver are mixed heading into the EU session

London (Feb 23)  Gold and silver moved into the EU session mixed as the yellow metal just holds its head above water to trade at $1809/oz. After a decent session yesterday where silver pushed over 3% higher this morning the precious metal has dropped just 0.28%.

After a mixed close on Wall Street, the Nikkei 225 (0.46%) and ASX (0.86%) managed to push higher. No such joy for the Chinese bourses as the Shanghai Composite fell 0.17%.

In the FX markets, the dollar index trades flat but NZD and CAD underperformed overnight. NZD/USD trades 0.17% lower while USD/CAD trades the same amount in the opposite direction.

Copper has once against pushed higher but this time it is only around 0.65% and spot WTI has also moved 0.53% in the right direction.

In overnight news, it was reported that Swiss gold exports to India in January climbed 12% m/m to 38.7t. It has been said that the current bounce back in the precious metal is been due to physical demand.

In terms of data leading into the EU session, the UK January jobless claims change came in at -20.0k vs 7.0k prior. China January new home prices jumped +0.3% m/m (prior +0.1%) and +3.9% y/y (prior +3.8%). New Zealand Retail sales excl. inflation for Q4 2020 fell -2.7% q/q vs the expected reading of -0.5%.

As the trade issues mount with China, Australian exports of goods in January 2021 declined $3,047m (-9%) to $32,126m and importantly exports to China declined $1,112m (-8%).

Sticking with Australia, PM Morrison confirms temporary coronavirus job support programs will expire end-March. The government also announced an extra $25/week in unemployment benefits.

As things normalise in China, the state media agency has said the recovery in economic growth paves the way for monetary policy normalization.

Over in the US as we see yield's rise, the money markets are now predicting a Fed rate hike by 2022 of 25bps.

Reuters