Key Points:
Gold closes up $35 at 1951, Silver also up over 8% on the day
US Jobless claims beat boosting US 30 year yields
US indices mixed with risk outlook
US jobless claims beat expectations coming it at 963,000 from 1.1m expected giving US yields a lift and buoying the USD with it. Early weakness in the USD saw EUR/USD at 1.1860 and Cable at 1.3125 before both moving back lower as the greenback made a comeback. The AUD had seen a decent employment report during the Asian session but has been unable to break the triple top around 0.7185/90 for the past three days now. The outlier once again was the CAD which managed to push below 1.32 for the first time since February. Not to be outdone precious metals remained volatile and after spending most of the day 1925/1935 we saw Gold dip below 1920 early in the US session only to find good support and a move back through key resistance to a high of 1967. It dipped back to close at 1951 but has seen buyers since taking it back to 1961. Silver also gained over 8% on the day. US indices had a mixed day with yields impacting and a late comment from McDonnell stating that the Senate will be on recess for the rest of August unless a stimulus deal can be finalised. This delay to any agreement weighed on risk, however into the close all three major indices were largely unchanged on the day. Today’s highlight for the upcoming Asian session will be a bunch of Chinese data including Industrial Production and Retail Sales we also have a speech from RBA’s Lowe so we could see some volatility on the back of these events. EU GDP and US Retail Sales to follow to round off the week.