Oil remains choppy, gold eyes BoE decision

Oil remains choppy but edging towards the upper end of its range

Oil prices remain very volatile as we’ve seen over the last week. Trading has been very choppy as traders have tried to reconcile weaker Chinese growth, slightly more modest support from the PBOC, more hawkish central banks, and resilient economies. We appear to be in a position where we’re either waiting for the economy to break or for central banks to achieve their soft landing aims.

Brent remains in its lower trading range for this year between $70-$80 but we are getting closer to the upper end of that and there’s still plenty of momentum in the move. A break above $80 could be a very bullish development and suggest traders are feeling less pessimistic about the economy.

Gold sell-off losing momentum ahead of the BoE

Gold has been seriously testing its recent range lows over the last 48 hours but so far it’s struggling to generate enough momentum for a significant move lower. Despite Powell’s hawkish delivery in Congress, the yellow metal recovered earlier losses to close only marginally lower on the day, albeit below the lower end of the $1,940-$1,980 range it previously largely traded within.

Ahead of day two of his testimony, this time in front of the Senate, gold is trading relatively flat and potentially in need of another bearish catalyst. The sell-off is losing momentum although it could get an extra nudge from the BoE if we see a more hawkish shift.