After hitting a historic high earlier this week, gold prices in the US fell sharply in early trading on Friday due to a large amount of profit taking by short-term futures traders. In addition, futures traders who have recently started to go long are now being forced to sell (weak long clearing). Silver futures prices also fell sharply, hitting a three week low. The spot gold price ultimately fell by $50.60 to $2406.30 per ounce. Spot silver'>silver fell $1.039 to $29.185.

Some analysts attribute part of the decline in gold prices to concerns about economic weakness in some regions of the world in the coming months, which may reduce demand for raw material commodities, including metals.

Asian and European stock indices have generally declined. After the opening of the New York stock market, the US stock index fluctuated at the opening.

In overnight news, a major software failure at Microsoft resulted in the shutdown of businesses and computers worldwide, including some airlines and banks. Experts say that this malfunction was caused by a software upgrade patch, not a cyber attack.

There are reports that an increasing number of current and former US Congress members hope that President Biden will withdraw from the presidential race. They said that the polls showed that he could not defeat former President Trump, and Biden's continued participation in the election was harming the interests of the Democratic Party.

The US dollar index in major external markets has strengthened today. The crude oil price on the New York Mercantile Exchange fell slightly, trading at around $82.50 per barrel. The benchmark 10-year US treasury bond bond yield is currently 4.198%.

There are no important economic reports from the United States on Friday.

Daily chart of spot gold

Technically speaking, spot gold bulls still have a solid overall short-term technical advantage. The next upward target for bulls is to close above the record high of $2488.40. The next short-term downside target for bears is to push futures prices below $2350.00. The first resistance level is at $2425.00, followed by the overnight high of $2448.40. The first support level is at $2400.00, followed by $2375.00.

Daily chart of spot silver'>silver

The long position in spot silver'>silver futures has had a slight technical advantage in recent times, but it has significantly subsided this week. The next upward target for silver'>silver bulls is to close above the technical resistance level of $31.00. The next downside target for bears is to close below the solid support of the June low of $28.90. The first resistance is at $29.5, followed by $30. The next support level is at $29.00, followed by $28.90.