Oil & Gold Analysis: Oil Near 6-Year Low, Gold Re-Approaches Low Level

London (Mar 18)  Crude oil futures neared a six-year low on Tuesday, before slightly rebounding in afternoon trading ahead of Wednesday's key Federal Open Market Committee meeting. Meanwhile, oil futures sold off sharply as market player’s monitored developments surrounding talks between Iran and world powers over Tehran's nuclear program. A senior U.S. official said Tuesday that there are some signs of progress in discussions with Tehran over its disputed nuclear industry in exchange for a gradual end to sanctions on the Islamic Republic. Any sign of a deal between Iran and world powers could result in a flood of Iranian crude returning to the market which is already oversupplied.

GOLD

Gold re-approached the lowest level in more than three months on Tuesday, after data showed that the number of housing starts issues in the U.S. fell sharply in February, while building permits topped expectations, painting a mixed picture of the U.S. housing sector. In a report, the U.S. Commerce Department said that U.S. housing starts declined by 17.0% last month to 897,000 units from January’s total of 1.081 million units, worse than expectations for a decline of 2.4% to 1.049 million. Meanwhile, investors are unloaded their holdings on the precious metal in advance of Wednesday's critical Federal Open Market Committee meeting.

Source: Investing.com