EU members supported the sanctions on Iran’s oil imposed by the USA. This will be especially painful for Greece, which imports up to 30% of crude oil from Iran. Italy and Spain are also major importers of Iran’s oil. In general, the EU is the 2nd largest consumer (after China) of the crude oil exported by Iran.
In Europe investors will be watching the French bond auction as France is planning to earn up to 8B euro on bond sales. Some analysts expect the eurozone economy to decline by 0.2% after a 1.6% increase in 2011. The US economy is expected to boost by 2.1% in 2012 against last year’s 1.8% growth.
Yesterday Germany held its own bond auction. The supply and demand were balanced, thus showing much better results than November’s auction.
Against this background, yesterday gold rallied, thus showing negative correlation with the common European currency. It seems like the current situation around Iran makes investors turn to gold and silver as “safe haven” assets.
The Shanghai gold exchange saw an increase in sales after the holidays. The intraday volume in the Indian market of gold is twice as high as the average.
Forecast: According to the Department of Commodity Trading of , today gold may continue its rally if the price stays above the 1613-1615 range. The closest target areas are 1625-1627 and 1640-1642. A break below 1613 will give way to 1600, 1590.
Silver may continue its rally as well. The closest targets are 29.75 and 30. A break below 29.29 will give way to 29, 28.80, 28.65.
