Gold and silver trade slightly lower leading into the EU open

London (Apr 12)  Gold and silver have moved lower in the first Asian trading session of the week. Gold is now 0.27% lower trading just under $1740/oz, if the price does keep falling keep an eye on the $1730/oz area for some intraday support. Silver is still trading just above the $25/oz area after falling 0.47% overnight.

The risk sentiment overnight was pretty poor. The Nikkei 225 (-0.77%), ASX (-0.30%) and Shanghai Composite (-1.11%) all traded lower ahead of the latest US earnings season. Eurostoxx futures are currently trading 0.20% lower pointing to a negative open.

In the FX markets, the dollar index traded slightly higher but the main mover was USD/CAD which traded 0.27% in the black while USD/CHF also moved higher by the same amount. 

In terms of news, an Australian state leader says vaccination delays mean Australia will be left behind. On the plus side, the CBA has dropped its end of 2021 Australian unemployment rate forecast to 5% from 5.5%.

Fed's Powell had an interview on Sunday night on 60 minutes. He said he does not want to return to bad old days of inflation and also added the economy really seems to be at an inflection point.

Sticking with central bankers, ECB's Panetta said the bank must accept no further delay in lifting inflation.

There were also media reports that the UK and EU are close to agreeing to a trading agreement for Northern Ireland. This comes after lots of debate about avoiding a hard border between the two nations.

In Germany, Bavarian leader Markus Soeder has joined the race to replace Angela Merkel. He will now be up against CDU party chairman Armin Laschet for the nomination.

Bitcoin climbed back above $60,000, now the crypto bulls will be looking at attacking the all-time high at $61,788.45.

Looking ahead to the rest of the session highlights include EZ retail sales and comments from ECB's Panetta, de Cos, BoE's Haldane, Tenreyro and Fed's Rosengren.

Reuters