Commodities Brief – Precious metals drop during US trading, crude oil held below 94.50

FXstreet.com (Barcelona) - A recent upside attempt via spot gold prices was stymied at the 1561 level Thursday at the onset of American trading. Since yesterdays FOMC fiasco, precious metals and commodities have been in a state of flux, as nobody truly knows what the Fed rhetoric will translate to in tangible terms – indeed a suspension of QE3 would portend further weakness to gold prices. In these moments, the price of gold has once again edged lower and is trading negatively at USD $1557.68 per oz. The yellow metal is in the midst of a bearish consolidation, however prolonged stability above 1570 will ultimately cancel this view.

Silver holds onto weekly gains
In a strange twist, silver has been the more resilient precious metal this week, holding onto its weekly gains despite multiple stresses against it. Outperformance against its yellow counterpart has to bode well for proponents of silver, though the price is once again trading negatively Thursday following upbeat US jobless data. At the time of writing, silver spot prices are operating at USD $27.60 per oz., off session highs of 27.80. An intraday rebound is certainly in the cards, as highlighted hammer candlestick patterns in the hourly charts.

Crude testing 50-day SMA
WTI Crude is presently consolidating near its 50-day SMA near 94.50, which is acting as resistance to further upside. At the onset of US trading, crude oil is trading at USD $94.33/bbl.