Gold and silver prices fade; slumping crude oil bearish

New York (Jan 23)  Gold and silver prices are a bit weaker in early U.S. futures trading Thursday. The metals are pressured in part by falling crude oil prices that hit a six-week low overnight. The safe-haven metals are also seeing limited buying interest because there are presently no major geopolitical events to spook the marketplace. February gold futures were last down $1.30 an ounce at 1,555.50. March Comex silver prices were last down $0.138 at $17.69 an ounce.

Asian and European stock markets were mostly down overnight. U.S. stock indexes are pointed toward weaker openings when the New York day session begins. The coronavirus impacting China has now killed 17 citizens there as China has locked down the city of 10 million people, Wuhan, reports said. At least one case of the virus is in the U.S. Markets are keeping a close eye on this matter. President Trump’s trade threats against the European Union in an interview in Davos on Wednesday are also unsettling European traders.

The key European event today is the regular monetary policy meeting of the European Central Bank. There was no change in ECB policy, as expected, but the press conference from ECB President Lagarde will be closely monitored. The statement leans a bit easy on monetary policy as it said the ECB’s bond-buying program will continue “as long as necessary.”

The key outside markets today see crude oil prices down and trading around $56.00 a barrel. The U.S. dollar index is near steady early today.

U.S. economic data due for release Thursday includes the weekly jobless claims report, leading economic indicators, the weekly DOE liquid energy stocks report, and the Kansas City Fed manufacturing survey.

KitcoNews