Precious metals bid on busy Thursday

Traders paid attention to German factory orders, which rose 3% on a monthly basis and 27.8% year-on-year. Both numbers surpassed forecasts, which lifted the EURUSD pair to 1.2030.

The greenback seems unable to defend its gains, with any small rallies being met with selling interest. Thus, the EURUSD pair still trades above 1.20, which is bullish for precious metals.

Silver was 1% stronger on Thursday, trading at around 26.70 USD, while gold advanced toward the 1,800 USD level again.

Market participants will also focus on today’s EU retail sales for March, where a slowdown in the March date is expected due to renewed lockdowns across the EU.

Later in the day, the Bank of England is expected to leave monetary policy unchanged, with the main rate most likely staying at 0.1% and the BoE asset purchase facility at 895 billion GBP.

However, the central bank is seen significantly upgrading its growth outlook, possibly increasing expectations that its next move will be to tighten monetary policy rather than provide fresh stimulus to the economy as the pandemic eases.

Moreover, the ECB President Christine Lagarde is due to speak at the virtual high-level conference on a proposal for a “Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive – the way forward” organized by European Commission.

During the US session, jobless claims will be released, along with unit labor costs and nonfarm productivity data. 

Source: https://www.axiory.com/market-news/precious-metals-bid-on-busy-thursday