gold

European trading was a non even yesterday and even the downgrading of the EFSF by S&P had little impact on markets. Gold overtook resistance levels only in Asian trade, where the stronger Indian Rupee combined might have helped Indian buyers and other Asian demand were said to kick out a round of buy stops. Better than expected Chinese GDP, Industrial Output and Retail Sales gave markets a boost in risk, causing Gold to rally to 1660, Silver to 30.30, Platinum to 1520 and Palladium to 650 USD per ounce. In the News, according to the Chinese National Bureau of Statistics and provided there wasn't a translation mistake by Bloomberg, Gold output in China rose an astonishing 22% in 2011 to an indicated 731 tons. In December alone. output shall have climbed to 83 tons, which would be half of what was produced in the first half of the year. Moreover, Chinese output for 2010 was indicated to have been 341 tons earlier this year, which makes the numbers in the news even more confusing. Technically, Gold looks set to challenge last weeks high at 1662.90 basis February future and head to 1670. A break at this level would finally call for a target of the 1700 level. Support should come in at 1645 and 1635 respectively today.