February gold futures closed up $27.60 an ounce at $1,261.70 today. Prices closed nearer the session high and hit a fresh three-week high on more short covering and bargain hunting. The key “outside markets” were in a bullish posture for the gold market today as the U.S. dollar index was lower and crude oil prices were higher. While the gold market bears are in overall technical control, the bulls are now making a move as the bears appear to be exhausted. A six-week-old downtrend on the daily bar chart was negated today. The gold bulls’ next upside near-term price breakout objective is to produce a close above solid technical resistance at $1,300.00. Bears’ next near-term downside breakout price objective is closing prices below solid technical support at last week’s low of $1,210.10. First resistance is seen at today’s high of $1,267.50 and then at $1,275.00. First support is seen at $1,250.00 and then at today’s low of $1,237.40. Wyckoff’s Market Rating: 3.0

March silver futures closed up $0.644 an ounce at $20.345 today. Prices closed nearer the session high and hit a fresh three-week high on short covering and bargain hunting. The key “outside markets” were in a bullish posture for the gold market today as the U.S. dollar index was lower and crude oil prices were higher. Silver bears still have the overall near-term technical advantage. However, the bulls are making a move as a six-week-old downtrend on the daily bar chart was negated today. Silver bulls’ next upside price breakout objective is closing prices above solid technical resistance at $21.00 an ounce. The next downside price breakout objective for the bears is closing prices below solid technical support at last week’s low of $18.89. First resistance is seen at today’s high of $20.43 and then at $20.60. Next support is seen at $20.00 and then at today’s low of $19.74. Wyckoff’s Market Rating: 3.0.

March N.Y. copper closed up 85 points at 326.65 cents today. Prices closed near mid-range but did hit a fresh four-week high today. The key “outside markets” were in a bullish posture for the gold market today as the U.S. dollar index was lower and crude oil prices were higher. Bulls today gained the slight near-term technical advantage. Copper bulls’ next upside breakout objective is pushing and closing prices above solid technical resistance at 330.00 cents. The next downside price breakout objective for the bears is closing prices below solid technical support at the November low of 313.50 cents. First resistance is seen at today’s high of 327.90 cents and then at 330.00 cents. First support is seen at today’s low of 324.70 cents and then at this week’s low of 323.10 cents. Wyckoff’s Market Rating: 5.5.