Gold and Silver Prices Look to End Losing Streak Today

San Francisco (Apr 2)  Gold and silver prices are set to shake off recent losses today. Gold, in particular, has had a rough go of late. If its early gains hold, gold will put an end to its five-day losing streak.

Gold prices are trading up $12 at $1,292/oz. Silver is also seeing healthy gains, up $0.31 at $20/oz.

It’s going to be a busy day for data as ADP numbers were released earlier today and factory orders are expected to release later this morning.

The ADP National Employment report indicated 191,000 private sector jobs were created in March. While a solid number, it did fall short of analysts expectations of 195,000. February’s ADP numbers were revised sharply higher to show a gain of 178,000 versus initial reports of 139,000.

According to the ADP, small businesses were responsible for 72,000 of these jobs. Medium sized firms accounted for 52,000 and Large firms generated 67,000 new positions last month.

Wall Street reaction to the ADP numbers has been muted. It’s a solid bounce back from the first two months of 2014, but not really higher than 2013’s monthly average. Some on Wall Street were expecting a bigger bounce. Plus, Wall Street wants to see the monthly government jobs report before pushing the market one way or another. That report will release on Friday.

Factory orders will be released at 10 am ET. Analysts will be looking for a 1.2% increase.

This morning’s bounce in gold and silver is a welcome sight for precious metals investors. Nothing has really changed from earlier in the week. Today’s bounce looks like it’s driven more on technicals than fundamental news. Fundamentals will play a bigger role as Friday’s jobs report nears. Expectations are for a big jump after winter weather impacted hiring in the first two months of the year.

Source: NewsLedge