As investors were lukewarm on the latest trade news talk, banks were able to prop up the markets on Tuesday with some positive earnings results. While precious metals gained strength on Monday’s market session, technical data on Tuesday served as reminder that gold and silver could be in consolidation phase, which could give investors pause when looking into these alternative asset classes.
“As gold and silver prepare for their next move, they are in the consolidation phase. We have written many times before that this phase is the most challenging and creates the most uncertainty for traders and investors,” said Todd Horwitz in Kitco News. “When the phase of consolidation ends the markets will breakout in one direction or the other. Typically, the breakout follows the prevailing trend, which in the metals is lower. With another close below $1,500 in December gold we are expecting a test of $1,460 and possibly $1,440.”
Silver has been a strong performer even relative to its more expensive precious metal brethren gold, but December futures will be key in determining whether it can sustain its strength.
“Silver looks stronger than gold, but the key level is 18.00 in December futures,” added Horwitz. “However, silver could breakdown as easy as gold which based on the action, we would expect lower prices. The bottom line is simple, until the price action and pattern tell us different, we are sellers of the metals.”
ETF Options in Precious Metals
As rates in the U.S. have been falling and as the trade war with China rages on, more investors have been piling into alternative safe haven assets like gold. As China’s economy starts to see tangible effects stemming from the trade war, more gold buying could be ahead—trade deal or no trade deal.
Bulls or bears can take advantage of leveraged or non-leveraged funds in precious metals. Investors looking to invest in precious metals ETFs could try the SPDR Gold MiniShares (GLDM ) and SPDR Gold Shares (GLD ) as a great way to play the market, while silver bulls could try the iShares Silver Trust (SLV ) and the Aberdeen Standard Physical Silver Shares ETF (SIVR ), two of the largest exchange traded funds backed by holdings of physical silver.
Traders looking for leverage can use funds like the Direxion Daily Gold Miners Bull 3X ETF (NUGT ), VanEck Vectors Gold Miners (GDX ) and the Direxion Daily Jr Gold Miners Bull 3X ETF (JNUG ).
This article originally appeared on ETFTrends.com
