Gold and silver move higher heading into the European open

London (Oct 19)  Gold has continued to recover overnight after falling for two sessions in a row. The yellow metal now trades 0.75% higher at $1777/oz. Silver has moved 1.75% in the right direction to trade at $23.59/oz. Elsewhere in the commodities complex copper has risen another 1.90% and WTI has moved 0.79% into the black.

Risk sentiment was pretty positive overnight. The Nikkei 225 (0.65%) and Shanghai Composite (0.69%) both climbed while the ASX bucked the trend to drop -0.08%. Futures in Europe are pointing towards a positive cash open. 

In FX markets, the U.S. dollar struggled overnight as the dollar index fell -0.36%. NZD/USD was the biggest beneficiary rising nearly 1%. Bitcoin continued to climb reaching $62,265.

Main stories from overnight: 

Evergrande's main unit said to have remit funds to pay onshore coupon due Tuesday.

Chinese authorities have instructed power plants to stockpile coal.

Japan PM Kishida says North Korea fired two ballistic missiles.

Japan will urge petroleum-producing nations to raise output and ease global oil prices.

Australia weekly consumer sentiment 107.0 (previous week 105.6).

RBA minutes: Says its central estimate is that the economy will return to growth in the December quarter of 2021, and to its pre-delta path in H2 of 2022. There was a reiteration that the RBA will not raise rates until CPI is stable at 2-3%.

US Treasury Secretary Yellen is to extend extraordinary debt management measures through 3rd December. 

U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson vowed to find a solution to Brexit’s Northern Ireland Protocol issue. 

Looking ahead to the rest of the session highlights include U.S. building permits, housing starts and comments from ECB's Elderson, Panetta, Lane, BoE's Bailey, Fed's Harker, Daly, Bostic, and Waller. 

KitcoNews