METALS:
December gold futures closed down $1.30 at $1,316.50 today. Prices today closed near mid-range and did some consolidation after scoring another fresh record high on Friday. Mild profit-taking pressure was featured amid a firmer U.S. dollar index today. Gold bulls still have the solid overall near-term technical advantage. There are no early technical clues that a market top is close at hand. Prices are in a nine-week-old uptrend on the daily bar chart. Bulls' next near-term upside technical objective is to produce a close above psychological resistance at $1,350.00. Bears' next near- term downside price objective is closing prices below solid technical support at $1,300.00. First resistance is seen at Friday's all-time high of $1,322.00 and then at $1,325.00. Support is seen at today's low of $1,313.40 and then at $1,307.30.
December silver futures closed down 2.5 cents at $22.035 an ounce today. Prices closed near mid-range today and did hit another fresh 30-year high early on. Mild profit- taking pressure was seen today, amid a firmer U.S. dollar index. Silver bulls still have the solid near-term technical advantage. There are no early clues that a market top is close at hand. Prices are in a steep six- week-old uptrend on the daily bar chart. The next downside price objective for the bears is closing prices below solid technical support at $21.50. Bulls' next upside price objective is producing a close above solid technical resistance at $22.50 an ounce. First resistance is seen at today's high of $22.235 and then at $22.30. Next support is seen at today's low of $21.90 and then at $21.725.
December N.Y. copper closed down 290 points at 366.15 cents today. Prices closed near the session low today. A firmer U.S. dollar limited buying interest and prompted some profit-taking pressure 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 380.00 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 370.00 cents and then at Friday's contract high of 372.20 cents. First support is seen at 365.00 cents and then at 362.00 cents.
*. ENERGIES:
November crude oil closed up $0.03 at $81.61 a barrel today. Prices closed near mid-range today and hit a fresh two-month high. Bulls still have the near- term technical advantage in crude and have good upside near-term technical momentum. Prices are in a six-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 the September high of $78.86. First resistance is seen at $82.00 and then at today's high of $82.38. First support is seen at $81.00 and then at today's low of $80.77..
November natural gas closed down 6.8 cents at $3.729 today. Prices closed near mid-range today and hit a fresh contract low. The bears have the solid overall near-term technical advantage and have gained more downside power recently. The next upside price objective for the bulls is closing prices above solid technical resistance at $4.00. The next downside price objective for the bears is closing prices below solid technical support at $3.50. First resistance is seen at today's high of $3.788 and then at $3.90. First support is seen at today's contract low of $3.686 and then at $3.60.
