Spot gold and silver prices ended the North American trading session on Friday in a positive state, as both metals were supported by weakening US manufacturing data and falling Treasury bond yields.
At the end of the session, spot gold price was at 4.613.83 USD/ounce, almost flat, while spot silver reached 75.357 USD/ounce, up 2.18%.
Notable data in the session was the US ISM manufacturing report for April, lower than expected but still within the expansion zone. This report reinforced concerns about the slowdown of industrial activity. Previously, the manufacturing PMI index released by S&P Global also showed modest growth.
Summary of data shows that the momentum of the US manufacturing sector is weakening, thereby pulling down bond yields and supporting gold and silver prices.
The market also continues to assess the impact from this week's policy meetings of the US Federal Reserve (Fed), the European Central Bank (ECB) and the Bank of England (BoE). The general message is that policymakers are not in a hurry to ease monetary policy. However, weaker economic data has increased expectations that growth may slow down, which may affect policy orientations in the coming time.
Geopolitical tensions related to the US-Iran conflict continue to support the energy market, although oil prices have cooled down slightly compared to recent highs. The decline in oil prices helps reduce concerns about inflation, contributing to pulling bond yields down and supporting precious metals.
The North American stock market closed in opposite directions. The S&P 500 index almost went sideways after fluctuations during the session, the Dow Jones slightly decreased, while the Nasdaq slightly increased thanks to large-cap technology stocks. The Canadian market also diễn biến similarly when the TSX index slightly decreased.
On related markets, WTI crude oil prices traded around 102 USD/barrel at the end of the session, the USD index weakened slightly, while the yield on 10-year US Treasury bonds fell to about 4.372%, reflecting the impact of negative economic data.
Technically, gold buyers are regaining some short-term momentum. The next upward target is to surpass the resistance zone of 4,615–4,642 USD/ounce, opening up the possibility of testing the 4,685–4,720 USD/ounce zone. In the opposite direction, if they break the 4,568 USD/ounce mark, the price may fall further to 4,532 and 4,485 USD/ounce.
For silver, the upward target of buyers is to surpass the resistance zone of 74.10–74.45 USD/ounce, with the next target being 75.20 USD/ounce. If decreasing, the important support level is at 73.05 USD/ounce, followed by 72.30 and 71.40 USD/ounce.
