Oil pushing higher, gold awaits Powell

Pushing the highs

Oil prices rebounded again on Monday, the second day in a row that they’ve reversed sizeable early losses to end the day in positive territory. They’re now on a good run and traders were clearly not deterred by China’s modest growth target for long. Against that backdrop, it may well be the case that Brent and WTI are about to test the upper end of their trading ranges that they’ve remained within since early December.

A break above $89 would be a very bullish signal for Brent while the same would be true of $83 in WTI. Whether they have the momentum to pull that off may well depend on Powell’s dual testimonies and/or Friday’s jobs data.

Tentatively higher

Gold is edging tentatively higher ahead of Powell’s testimony, during which conditions could become much more volatile. The yellow metal has run into resistance around $1,860 this week which was always likely to be the first test to the upside. Above here, $1,890-$1,900 will be a big test, should it get that far.

Of course, all of this may simply depend on what Powell has to say. A hawkish testimony could wipe out any bullish momentum built up over the last week, at which point attention will shift back to the lows around $1,780-$1,800.

gold