Gold and silver edge higher leading into the European open

London (Dec 23)  Gold is back above $1800/oz as the yellow metal registered a 0.80% gain on Wednesday. Silver is closing in on $23/oz and is currently 0.33% higher. In the rest of the commodities complex, copper is 0.34% higher and spot WTI is -0.25% in the red. 

Risk sentiment was good in the Asia Pac area as the Nikkei 225 (0.83%), ASX (0.31%), and Shanghai Composite (0.57%) all pushed higher. Futures in Europe are pointing towards a positive open. 

Once again AUD and NZD were the biggest movers overnight. AUD/USD rose 0.26% while NZD/USD managed to just outperform and gain 0.30%. In the crypto space, BTC/USD fell -0.57%. 

News from overnight:

There was a U.K. press report that noted the risk of hospitalization from omicron is lower than the delta COVID-19 variant. 

China orders 13 million Xi'an residents to stay home over the Covid outbreak.

Japan has boosted its GDP forecasts, as expected to 3.2% from a forecast of 2.2%.

According to media reports, China has set up a national rare earth group. 

China's Xi'an reportedly cancels all domestic flights amid the COVID-19 surge.

Germany November import price index +3.0% vs +1.0% m/m expected.

Australian November Private Sector credit +0.9%m/m.

Looking ahead to today's session highlights include Russian President Vladimir Putin is holding his annual year-end news conference, U.S. personal income, PCE, consumption, durable goods, and new home sales data. 

KitcoNews