Light trading: Gold prices rose slightly, silver prices rose steadily

In early US trading on Friday (December 19), the price of gold rose slightly, and the price of silver recorded a considerable increase, just one step away from the all-time high set this week. As the weekend approached and less than a week before Christmas, the overall market trading sentiment leveled off. Gold futures rose $13.60 to $4378.1 in February; silver futures rose $1.506 to $66.725 in March. In the observation of Aofu, the precious metals market maintained a moderate trend in light trading.

Global stock markets diverged overnight. The three major U.S. stock indexes are expected to open slightly higher at the start of the New York session.

Bank of Japan raises base rate to 30-year high

The Bank of Japan announced on Friday that it would raise the base rate to its highest level in 30 years, and sent a signal that further adjustments may follow. But the yen weakened in response to market disappointment that the central bank's policy statement was not as strong as expected. According to a statement released by the Bank of Japan on Friday, at the monetary policy meeting chaired by Governor Kazuo Ueda, the policy committee unanimously passed a resolution to raise the base rate by 25 basis points to 0.75%. The central bank said that the adjustment was based on the higher probability of the economic outlook being fulfilled, while wage growth momentum is solid and related external risks have eased. It is worth mentioning that a survey showed that 50 economists had accurately predicted the adjustment.

Putin stated that Russia is confident in achieving the set goals

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday that the Russian army was continuing to advance on the front lines. He said that after ordering troops to neighboring countries for nearly four years, Russia was confident that it would achieve its set goals. In a carefully prepared year-end press conference, Putin declared that the Russian army has "fully grasped the strategic initiative" and will make more progress by the end of the year. "The Russian army is advancing along the entire line of contact, some areas are advancing rapidly, some areas are relatively slow, but the other side is retreating along the line." The annual live press conference also opened a national hotline, through which Russians can ask questions to the president. However, Mr. Putin also said Russia was ready to resolve the conflict peacefully, but that a peace plan must focus on addressing the "root causes" of the conflict - a statement that also hinted at Moscow's tough terms for peace talks. Earlier this week, Mr. Putin warned that if the other side and its allies rejected Russia's demands, the Russian military would further expand its control.

Crude oil prices fell for the second consecutive week

Crude oil futures on the New York Mercantile Exchange fell to around $56 a barrel today, as concerns about oversupply outweighed geopolitical risks, and oil prices will usher in a second consecutive week of decline. Earlier this week, crude oil futures in New York fell to a near five-year low, mainly due to market expectations that the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies will gradually restore idle capacity, while non-member countries continue to increase production, and global crude oil supply will remain abundant. In addition, major crude oil consuming countries have shown initial signs of weak demand, which has also suppressed oil prices. Since the beginning of this year, crude oil prices have fallen by about 20%.

List of key data from external markets

In today's peripheral markets, the dollar index rose slightly; crude oil prices stabilized at $56.50 a barrel; and the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury yield is currently at 4.14%.

technical analysis

(COMEX Gold Day Chart, Source: Internet)

February gold futures: The next upside target for bulls is to break through the key resistance level - the contract's all-time high of $4433.00; the short-term downside target for bears is to push the futures price below the key technical support level of $4200.00. The preliminary resistance level is looking at the high of the week at $4409.50, and the further resistance level is at $4433.00; the preliminary support level is looking at the overnight low of $4336.30, and the further support level is at the low of the week at $4297.40.

(COMEX silver daily chart, source: Internet)

March silver futures: The next upside target for the bulls is to break through the key technical resistance level of $70.00; the next downside target for the bears is to push the closing price below the key support level of $60.00. The resistance level is at an all-time high of $67.18; the initial support level is focused on the overnight low of $64.465, and further support is at Wednesday's low of $63.725.

Note: The gold market pricing mechanism is mainly divided into two categories. One is the cash market, whose quotation corresponds to the price of gold for instant buying, selling and delivery; the other is the futures market, whose price is the price of gold for delivery at a specific time in the future. Affected by the adjustment of capital positions at the end of the year, the most actively traded gold futures contract on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange is the December contract. Aofu reminds investors to pay attention to changes in market liquidity.