By Barani Krishnan
Investing.com - Is gold finally on the cusp of a breakout?
It appears to be so, with the yellow metal settling up a third day in a row at September highs of nearly $1,830 an ounce.
What’s more, this came as Treasury yields actually rose — typically a negative for gold — although a weaker dollar actually proved supportive for bullion.
Question is, can the momentum hold amid the series of resistance pikes in the way?
“The first-off resistance is $1,835 and that needs to be cleared convincingly,” said Phillip Streible, precious metals strategist at Blue Line Futures in Chicago. “I’m advising my clients to go into options to avoid getting parlayed on the futures. I’m going to need a two-day close of $1,840 and above to tell them to buy.”
U.S. gold futures’ most active contract, December, settled up $11.20, or 0.6%, at $1,828 an ounce.
Since its last close in the red on Thursday, December gold has gained just over $64, or 3.6%.
While gold is supposed to be a hedge against inflation, it has barely lived up to that billing over the past year as incessant speculation that the Federal Reserve will be forced in a faster-than-expected rate hike had sent Treasury yields and the dollar rallying, at bullion’s expense.
That trend abated over the past week after Fed Chair Jay Powell assured for the umpteenth time that the central bank will be patient with any rate hike that will only come after the middle of 2022 and most likely toward the end of the year.