Gold hovers, digests January’s Big Rally

The lackluster performance in gold this week continued on Tuesday, with prices struggling to move higher after January’s 8% rally was good enough to mark the biggest monthly gain for the precious metal in three years.

At last check, gold for February delivery GCG5, +0.51% was up $5.30 to $1,282.60 an ounce. March silver futures SIH5, +2.11% rose 25 cents, or 1.5%, to $17.51 an ounce.

A day earlier, gold was also flat, though some analysts believe the pieces are still in place to support further strength in gold prices. David Govett of Marex Spectron, however, is looking for gold to remain stuck in a range between $1,250 and $1,300.

“Gold is one of those emotive markets where people get overly excited both at the top and bottom of the market and this generally ends badly,” he said. “If one can actually accept the fact that range trading quite often works, then all the better. In the absence of any negative or positive news, I will stick with that for the time being.”

On the economic front, auto sales flood in throughout the day, while factory orders for December will be released at 10:00 a.m. Eastern. The jobs report lurks at the end of the week.

In other metals, platinum for April delivery PLJ5, -0.10% jumped $9.70, or 0.8%, to $1,238.30 an ounce, while March palladium PAH5, +0.74% gained $4.95, or 0.6%, to $792.95 an ounce.

High-grade copper for March delivery HGH5, +3.35% added 4 cents, or 1.6%, to $2.53 a pound.

Source: MarketWatch