The initial jobless claims number came out this morning and right on cue the precious metals were both attacked after being weak all through European trading.  Gold was pushed back below the former Maginot line at $1585 only to recover with a vengeance and see the hedge fund shorts come in to keep the price below $1590 through the COMEX close as it could not be held back as the Euro recovered and surged back above $1.30.

Silver was pushed back to $28.60 before following Gold and the Euro back near $28.90.  The longer March goes on without a violation of the February low in both metals the stronger their technical position gets.  Gold tracing an inside bar on the monthly chart would be a preliminary reversal signal and set up an interesting April.

But along with the initial unemployment claims came the 0.7% increase to the PPI which was in-line with expectations –it always is.  Ex-food and energy the PPI was up just 0.2%.  For once there was not an attempt to hide near record gasoline prices.

Looking ahead to tomorrow holding $1586 in Gold would be a short-term weekly reversal bar while silver needs to close above $29.46 per ounce to trace the same pattern.  There’s a low probability of that happening so expect these ranges to carry over into next week for another attempt at first $1600/$29.50 then $1625/$30.00