(OroyFinanzas.com) – Gold firmed after Wednesday’s close, as slight buying interest was seen on the electronic trading. Tocom opened half a dollar higher with bids bringing us to the peak of $662.50 in the middle of the day.

The precious metal continued its way on the upside during the European hours and fixed at $663 on the first London fix, down $1 from the previous AM one. Subsequently prices broke above $665 and climbed up to the $666 level following the release of two US reports after the opening of the Comex division of the New York mercantile exchange. Labor Department report showed that the number of US workers signing up for first-time jobless benefits fell to a seasonally adjusted 308,000 last week, slightly lower than expected. According to the government report first-time jobless claims fell by 12,000 in the week ended July 7 from the prior week’s upwardly revised 320,000 level.

Economists were expecting claims to inch down to315,000 from the previously reported 318,000 claims. US trade deficit widened as expected in May, as higher oil prices helped lift imports to an all-time high. The US Commerce Department said indeed that May trade gap totaled $60 billion and widened 2.3 percent from a revised deficit of $58.7 billion for April. However profit taking did not let the metal sustain that level and it dropped back to the $664 area. By the mid afternoon a series of stops were hit, propelling us to the $669 levels. The rally was supported throughout the day by US dollar weakness, which hit the record low of 1.3799 against the euro earlier in the day. Gold was also helped by rising Brent, hitting a new 11-month high above $77 a barrel on rising tensions in Nigeria and increased flows of fund money into the world’s most actively traded commodity. However once again some large offers around the$670 resistance capped the move. Gold nevertheless closed the session onthe upper side of the intraday range. We believe that the metal is likely to be trading within the new $660/$670 range in the short term, but a clear bullish trend does not seem to be established yet as market participants remain cautious in this seasonally less active period for physical buying.

Silver saw some profit taking from the general public in Asia, but that was absorbed by overseas traders and prices could generally sustain the $12.90. Market went gradually higher through the European hours as well as Comex hours. Silver copied gold moves and rose sharply by the midafternoon to trade above the $13 psychological level. We believe that silver would have to consolidate above the 30-day moving average of $13 before heading further north. On the upside, the 150-day moving average of$13.20 should provide a first resistance.

MKS Gold & Silver, Daily Report
By Moniah El Shikh

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