Oil in choppy waters, gold edges lower

Choppy trading continues

Oil remains choppy this week with Brent and WTI slipping around 1% in early trade on Tuesday, wiping out similar gains at the start of the week. There is undoubtedly more optimism around the Chinese economy which will stimulate more demand this year but at the same time, sentiment is cooling on the global economy as interest rates are projected to go a little higher than previously anticipated.

This was always likely to be a quarter of big swings in sentiment as it was too much to ask for the inflation data to simply retreat back without any setbacks along the way. That naturally has consequences for economic expectations and therefore oil demand which is why we could see the market remain choppy over the rest of this quarter and into next.

Correction losing momentum

Gold is edging lower once more today following some choppy trade at the start of the week. While bulls may be encouraged by Friday’s rebound, others may take a little more convincing. That it came around notable support, in the $1,820 region, and on weaker momentum could be the biggest sign that the corrective move is seeing pushback.

That isn’t to say it’s fully run its course and we could see the yellow metal pare losses before the correction continues but near-term prospects are looking a little more promising. The first test in any recovery may come around $1,860, with $1,890-$1,900 then being a major test of resistance.

For a look at all of today’s economic events, check out our economic calendar: www.marketpulse.com/economic-events/

gold