Originally published by Rivkin Securities
The US market was closed yesterday in observance of Martin Luther King day making for a relatively quiet session. The FTSE 100 traded sideways for the session and closed just slightly down. Later today, UK CPI data will be released that is expected to show year over year growth of 3.0%.
Gold prices are holding right around six-month highs and if the price manages to break through $1,350 it will represent a four-year high although there is a reasonable amount of chart resistance at around this level. The rally in gold has come in the face of prior and future expected rate hikes by the Federal Reserve, which would normally be considered bearish for gold prices.
Oil prices continue to rally with WTI oil now close to $65 per barrel while Brent is at $70.23. The higher prices are now fuelling speculation that OPEC, which has so far been very diligent in sticking to its production cuts, will ultimately end the production cut agreement early. Contradicting this, both Iraq and the UAE have said that they remain committed to the agreement until the end of its term (currently the end of 2018).
Data Releases:
- No Significant Data