Precious metals became the main beneficiary of the weakness of the US dollar. The impressive growth of the world economy allowed palladium to hit record highs near $1,140 per ounce. From the beginning of the year, platinum added almost 8% and is one of the leaders of the commodity market. Gold managed to break through to the September peaks, and it appears that the bulls are determined to continue the rally. However, the EUR/USD movement stalled near the 1.23 mark against the backdrop of the ECB's "dovish" rhetoric, so it's too early to talk about the final defeat of the dollar.

Dynamics of precious metals and gold

Source: Financial Times.

The fact that the "greenback" is not at ease and does not react to the growing likelihood of the US GDP being dispersed under the influence of tax reform, or to strong macroeconomic data for the United States, is of paramount importance for the XAU/USD. However, it would be wrong to only talk about a single driver of growth.

The rapid rally in Brent and WTI increases the risks of accelerating consumer prices in the US and other countries. At the same time, central banks, including the Fed, prefer a slow normalization of monetary policy. These circumstances pose serious obstacles to the real yield of treasury bonds, which is a "bullish" factor for gold.

Let's not forget about political and geopolitical risks. On January 19, the US government could be temporarily shut down. More than four years ago, this resulted in a serious slowdown in the US GDP. Yes, the Republicans prepared a draft of its interim financing until February 16, but it looks raw and leads to an emergence of new enemies, which creates problems in the Senate voting. In Germany, negotiations between the bloc of Angela Merkel and the Social Democrats are unlikely to be as easy as initially intended. The Berlin wing of the SPD protested against the coalition, and until the party's congress on January 21-22, uncertainty will loom in the markets. Once again, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson reiterated the threat of North Korea and urged China and Russia to implement sanctions more actively.

Thus, a weak dollar, growing risks of accelerating inflation and a fall in the real yield of US Treasury bonds, political uncertainty in the United States and Germany, as well as the possibility of an escalation of the conflict over North Korea lay a powerful foundation for the continuation of the XAU/USD rally. Positions of "bears" look hopeless, however history shows that the trends often unfolded at a time when the crowd firmly believed in their continuation.

In my opinion, the "bulls" for EUR/USD brought the pair too far. Its long-term prospects appears positive, but it is not yet time to win back the factor of normalization of the monetary policy of the ECB, and the presence of political risks in Germany and Italy raises doubts about the validity of current levels. If the euro goes into a correction, the growth of the USD index will help lower the price of gold.

Technically, reaching a target of 88.6% for the "Shark" pattern enhances the risks of pullback in the direction of 23.6%, 38.2% and 50% of the CD wave.