Modest price gains for gold, bulls remain in firm control

Ne York (Jun 8)  Gold prices are modestly up in early morning U.S. trading Tuesday, as the sellers remain constrained by the bullish technical chart postures in place for both gold and silver. However, the buyers of the safe-haven metals are still tentative at present amid little risk aversion in the global market place. August gold futures were last up $2.70 at $1,900.30 and July Comex silver was last down $0.113 at $27.90 an ounce.

Global stock markets were mixed in quiet overnight trading. U.S. stock indexes are pointed toward narrowly mixed openings when the New York day session begins. Risk aversion in the marketplace is scant at present, amid no major geopolitical developments in play.

In overnight news, the Euro zone economy shrank by 0.3% in the first quarter of this year versus the fourth quarter of last year.

Traders are awaiting the U.S. economic data point of the week, which will be Thursday morning’s consumer price index report for May, which is expected to come in at up 0.5% from April and up 4.7%, year-on-year. Traders and investors continue their buzz regarding the prospects for inflation to heat up to uncomfortable levels in the coming months. Rising raw commodity prices the past few months are an ominous sign that inflation could become problematic.

The key outside markets today see the U.S. dollar index slightly higher. Nymex crude oil prices are weaker and trading around $68.75 a barrel after hitting a 2.5-year high of $70.00 on Monday. Meantime, the yield on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note is presently fetching around 1.553%.

U.S. economic data due for release Tuesday includes the weekly Johnson Redbook retail sales report, the NFIB small business index, the international trade report, and weekly chain store sales.

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