Gold and silver looks soft heading into the EU open

London (Dec 14)  Gold and silver are starting the week on the back foot heading into the European cash open. During the Asian session, the yellow metal slipped 0.27% while silver managed to hold up slightly better and only fall around 0.17%. The general risk sentiment was pretty positive in the Asia-Pac area as the Nikkei 225 (0.32%), ASX (0.26%) and Shanghai Composite (0.42%) all closed higher.

The main headline of the weekend came from the Brexit talks. The UK and EU set themselves a Sunday deadline for a resolution but now talks have been extended once again. They did not say how long this extension would last but the December 31st deadline is getting closer and it seems the two may run out of time to implement a new deal if nothing is agreed soon.

In a strange turn of events, there were reports overnight that the US treasury was hacked. Adding to the surprise it was then exposed that the party involved could be backed by the Russian government could be behind the breach in US national security. The US administration has not said much about the event and the events could become much clearer later in the session.

Sticking with the US, outgoing President Donald Trump wants to sign $1,200 checks, urges Congress to pass coronavirus relief. This fiscal stimulus saga has been running on for some time now and maybe Trump wants to pass something for the people before he is forced to leave the White House on 20th January.

Iron ore prices have continued to climb as demand from China rises, and have been further buoyed by dwindling supply and disruptions caused by a set of storms hitting Australia, the world’s largest producer.

In terms of data, there was not too much overnight. Japanese industrial production month on month for October came in at 4.0% vs analyst expectations of 3.8%. The Tankan large manufacturers index for Q4 also came in positive at -10 vs an expected reading of-15.

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