Copper Slips On China Data While Gold Eyes $1,320 As USD Dips

London (Apr 10)  Fed Crushes USD, Sending Precious Metals Soaring. Expectations of a more timely rate hike by the US Federal Reserve were quashed by the release of the central bank’s March Meeting Minutes, which sent US 10 year yields and the USD plunging. The fall in the reserve currency has continued in Asian trading today which has helped gold advance on a key technical level at $1,320.

To help illustrate the reaction to the Minutes and the relationship between gold, silver, and the US Dollar, the multi-compare indicator is used below. It shows the percentage changes for each of the instruments from the outset of US trading on Wednesday.

Absent a complete collapse in investor confidence, a souring of sentiment may actually stand to weaken the US Dollar, given a drive to US Treasuries would push down US 10 year yields (see relationship below) . This would likely benefit gold and silver and could prompt a break of key technical levels for the precious metals.