Commodities Brief – Precious metals await Bernanke testimony, Gold finds resistance at 1600

Gold prices made a run at the vaunted 1600 barrier and resistance (1601.65 daily maximum), however the price could not hold above this figure and pulled back shortly after, spending the European session in flux. After ranging as low as 1591, the yellow metal has rebounded at the onset of American trading, as investors are all waiting for the remarks from Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke at 15:00 GMT. Fundamentally, gold looks good, as it is being supported by its 20-day SMA. At the time of writing, the price has settled at USD $1595.64 per oz., up +0.57% Tuesday.

Silver prices have experienced the same uneven behavior today, as overnight and European trading has caused the white metal to range between 28.76 (session low) and its initial 29.00 opening figure. As a cheaper alternative safe haven currency, clearly the direction and overall dovishness of the Fed will play a role in short-term prices. However, silver remains constrained by strong resistance at the 29.00 barrier, and in these moments the price is trading negatively at USD $28.91 per oz., down -0.27%.

WTI Crude briefly peaked at an intraday maximum of 93.18 in recent moments, before waning slightly back towards USD $93.00/bbl level. Currently, it has found traction this region at and is testing this mark during the time of writing Tuesday.