Oil:
Oil closed yesterday at $95.5 a barrel after trading as high is $97.5 a barrel in a strong range between $95 and $98 a barrel.
A tropical storm in the Gulf of Mexico has put major oil outputs at risk of less production in the near future, changing short term expectations for the price of oil.
Today we can expect two major events in the market, both of which may impact on the price of the commodity.
Firstly, there is the S&P/CS Composite-20 HPI. With the Fed indicating more ease to the economy if financial improvement not good enough, the housing market will be a major factor in future stimulus and growth expectations.
Secondly is the CB Consumer Confidence which will be published today, following the publication of retail sales a few days ago which had improved. Good results could further oil to the top of its current trading range.
Gold:
Gold closed yesterday at $1663 an ounce after trading as high as $1676 in a tight range between $1677 and $1660. The best hope of breaking this level would come if indicators from the market provide more stimulus expectations. These expectations are most likely to arise from Thursday’s jobless claims in the US and the Jackson Hole meeting with Bernanke’s speech this Friday.
Profit taking could occur with no news delivered until Thursday and that would break the downside range for a short amount of time, receiving support at $1650 an ounce.