Charts Force Gold Lower

Published on Wednesday, 08 February 2012 17:19 Written by Todd Shriber

New York, February 8^th (TradersHuddle.com) – A wave of technical selling and more concerns about Greece’s ability to reach deal to skirt sovereign debt default plagued gold futures today with Comex-traded gold for April delivery trading down $13.80 at $1,734.80 an ounce. News that the European Central Bank may take issue with a Greek debt deal weighed on traders’ minds and profit-taking ensued. The SPDR Gold Shares (NYSE: GLD) and the iShares Gold Trust (NYSE: IAU) both gave up 0.71% percent on the day, though volume was below average in both funds. The PowerShares DB US Dollar Index Bullish (NYSE: UUP) gained 0.14%.

Silver was barely better as the iShares Silver Trust (NYSE: SLV) slid 0.66%, but that loss was also taken on below average turnover. Better days were had by the other precious metals as the ETFS Physical Platinum Shares (NYSE: PPLT) added almost 1% on volume that was nearly twice the daily average. PPLT closed at $164.50 meaning the only U.S.-listed ETF backed by physical platinum holdings is now just 50 cents shy of breaking key technical resistance at $165.

The technical picture is for the ETFS Physical Palladium Shares (NYSE: PALL) is becoming increasingly attractive. We’ve noted several times in recent days that closes above $70 are crucial to PALL’s near-term fortunes and the ETF was able to do just that today, adding 1% to close at $70.60. Wednesday’s gain for PALL came on volume that as slightly above average.

In a note out today, Barclays said it sees support for silver at $33 an ounce and resistance at $35.70. Some analysts are slightly more bullish on miners, though that group was off today. The Global X Silver Miners ETF (NYSE: SIL) gave up 0.64% on heavy trade while the Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF (NYSE: GDX) slid 0.61% on below average volume.

Perhaps concerning is a 1.6% decline for the Market Vectors Junior Gold Miners ETF (NYSE: GDXJ). The ETF, which has yet to take out its 200-day line, must find support at the 20-day line around $28 or risk further downside. A move away from this risk on ETF could trigger selling across the mining ETFs complex and has the potential to adversely impact GDX and SIL as well.

The iPath DJ-UBS Copper TR Sub-Index ETN (NYSE: JJC) impressed with a gain of 1.1%, far better than the moderate gains notched by the Global X Copper Miners ETF (NYSE: COPX) and the iShares MSCI Chile Investable Market Index Fund (NYSE: ECH). Still, gains are gains and copper was a winner on the day while the same cannot be said of gold and silver.