*. METALS:
December gold futures closed down $3.50 at $1,306.80 today. Prices today closed near mid-range after scoring another fresh record high. Profit-taking pressure and end-of-the-month and end-of-the-quarter book-squaring were featured today. Price action today did score a mildly bearish "outside day" down on the daily bar chart, whereby the high was higher and the low was lower than the previous session's trading range, with a lower close. If there is solid follow-through selling pressure on Friday, then a bearish "key reversal" down could be confirmed, which would be one early technical clue that a near-term market top is in place. A firmer U.S. dollar index also limited buying interest in gold today. Gold bulls have the solid overall near-term technical advantage. Prices are in a two-month-old uptrend on the daily bar chart. Bulls' next near-term upside technical objective is to produce a close above psychological resistance at $1,325.00. Bears' next near-term downside price objective is closing prices below solid technical support at this week's low of $1,276.20. First resistance is seen at today's all-time high of $1,317.50 and then at $1,320.00. Support is seen at $1,300.00 and then at today's low of $1,297.00.
December silver futures closed down 22.2 cents at $21.73 an ounce today. Prices closed nearer the session low after scoring another fresh 30-year high early on. Profit-taking pressure and end-of-the-month and end-of-the-quarter book-squaring were also featured in silver today. Price action today did score a mildly bearish "outside day" down on the daily bar chart, whereby the high was higher and the low was lower than the previous session's trading range, with a lower close. If there is solid follow-through selling pressure on Friday, then a bearish "key reversal" down could be confirmed, which would be one early technical clue that a near-term market top is in place. A firmer U.S. dollar index also limited buying interest in silver today. Silver bulls still have the solid near-term technical advantage. Prices are in a steep five-week-old uptrend on the daily bar chart. The next downside price objective for the bears is closing prices below solid technical support at $21.00. Bulls' next upside price objective is producing a close above solid technical resistance at $22.50 an ounce. First resistance is seen at $22.00 and then at today's high of $22.125. Next support is seen at today's low of $21.565 and then at $21.50.
December N.Y. copper closed down 65 points at 365.50 cents today. Prices closed nearer the session high today. A firmer U.S. dollar limited buying interest in copper today. The copper bulls still have the solid overall near-term technical advantage. Prices are in a four- month-old uptrend on the daily bar chart. Bulls' next upside objective is pushing and closing prices above solid technical resistance at 375.00 cents. The next downside price objective for the bears is closing prices below solid technical support at 350.00 cents. First resistance is seen at Wednesday's contract high of 367.35 cents and then at 370.00 cents. First support is seen at today's low of 362.00 cents and then at 360.00 cents.
*. ENERGIES:
November crude oil closed up $2.15 at $80.03 a barrel today. Prices closed nearer the session high today, hit a fresh seven-week high and closed at a bullish monthly high close. Bulls have the near-term technical advantage in crude. Prices are in a five-week- old uptrend on the daily bar chart. The next near-term upside price objective for the bulls is producing a close above solid technical resistance at the August high of $83.91 a barrel. The next near-term downside price objective for the crude oil bears is to produce a close below solid technical support at $75.00. First resistance is seen at today's high of $80.18 and then at $80.50. First support is seen at $79.50 and then at $79.00.
November heating oil closed up 582 points at $2.2695 today. Prices closed near the session high today and hit a fresh 4.5-month high. Prices also closed at a bullish monthly and quarterly high close. Bulls have the solid near-term technical advantage and gained more power today. Prices are in a five-week-old uptrend on the daily bar chart. The bulls' next upside price objective is closing prices above solid technical resistance at $2.3500. Bears' next downside price objective is producing a close below solid technical support at $2.1750. First resistance lies at today's high of $2.2707 and then at $2.3000. First support is seen at $2.2500 and then at $2.2250.
November natural gas closed down 9.2 cents at $3.87 today. Prices closed near the session low today, scored a bearish "outside day" down on the daily bar chart, hit a fresh contract low and closed at a bearish monthly and quarterly low close. A bearish weekly gas storage report fueled the sellers today. The bears have the solid overall near-term technical advantage and gained more downside power today. The next upside price objective for the bulls is closing prices above solid technical resistance at $4.20. The next downside price objective for the bears is closing prices below solid technical support at $3.65. First resistance is seen at today's high of $4.012 and then at $4.10. First support is seen at today's contract low of $3.78 and then at $3.75.
