Gold price down amid prifit-taking on in silver

(Kitco News, Thurs. Jan. 8th, 2026) – Gold and silver prices are lower in early U.S. trading Thursday, with silver sharply down, on profit taking and weak long liquidation from the shorter-term futures traders. Silver has seen a bearish chart pattern form that is spooking the bulls in both metals. Also, there’s an old trading adage that says a mature bull market needs to be fed a steady diet of fresh bullish news to survive. Such appears to be now lacking for the two precious metals. February gold was last down $28.00 at $4,435.00. March silver prices were down $2.758 at $74.86.

Gold and silver traders/investors are bracing for an annual rebalancing of commodity indexes that could see futures contracts worth billions of dollars sold in the next few days. Bloomberg reports Citigroup Inc. has estimated about $6.8 billion in silver futures could be sold to meet the rebalancing requirements, and outflows from gold futures will total roughly the same amount. The selling is needed because of the sharp rise in the weighting of precious metals in commodity benchmark indexes, said Bloomberg.

Challenger, Gray: U.S. job-cuts in December lowest since July of 2024. U.S.-based employers announced 35,553 job cuts in December,  the lowest since July of 2024, down from 71,321 in November and 8% below the level seen in December 2024, according to Challenger, Gray & Christmas today. “The year closed with the fewest announced layoff plans all year. While December is typically slow, this coupled with higher hiring plans, is a positive sign after a year of high job cutting plans,” said Andy Challenger with the firm. In 2025, employers announced 1,206,374 job cuts, an increase of 58% from 2024 and the highest total since 2020. The Government led all industries in job cuts with 308,167, primarily in the federal government. Technology led in the private sector with 154,445 cuts. “Tech has been pivoting to both developing and implementing AI much more quickly than any other industry. This coupled with over-hiring over the last decade created a wave of job loss in the industry,” said Challenger. Meanwhile, employers announced 507,647 planned hires, down 34% from 2024 and the lowest since 2010.

Trump wants 50% increase in U.S. defense budget. President Trump said on social media he wants a $500 billion increase in annual U.S. defense spending, to $1.5 trillion, and threatened to cut out some companies that would profit from the boost. Trump also signed an executive order requiring major defense contractors to end stock buybacks, stop issuing dividends, and cap executive pay at $5 million a year until they invest more in factories and research. Trump’s announcement sent shares of major defense contractors lower, with companies such as RTX Corp., Northrop Grumman Corp., Lockheed Martin Corp., and General Dynamics Corp. declining. ”This will allow us to build the ‘Dream Military’ that we have long been entitled to and, more importantly, that will keep us SAFE and SECURE, regardless of foe,” Trump wrote on social media.

Details emerge regarding U.S. policy on Venezuelan crude oil. Oil traders and U.S. refiners are rushing to position for access to Venezuelan crude oil after the Trump administration said it would take control of as much as 50 million barrels, one of the largest unexpected supply flows in years, Bloomberg reported. The U.S. strategy — announced initially in a late-night social media post Tuesday from President Trump and more details coming Wednesday from Energy Secretary Chris Wright — “puts the federal government into direct involvement in the international oil market and promises to reinvigorate flows of Venezuelan crude to American refineries after years of sanctions. The return of Venezuelan barrels to U.S. buyers could mark one of the most significant shifts in global energy markets in recent years. It has already sent Canadian crude prices plunging and weighed on benchmark oil futures. The country has the world’s largest oil reserves, but its production has slumped below 1 million barrels a day after decades of underinvestment, trade sanctions and economic isolation,” said the Bloomberg report. Trump said in a New York Times interview published today that the U.S. would be running Venezuela and extracting its oil for years. “We will rebuild it in a very profitable way,” he told the newspaper. While top U.S. oil companies are set to meet with Trump at the White House in coming days, several drilling firms are still likely to be wary of a quick return or entry into Venezuela without assurances and clarity about the political and legal landscape, Bloomberg said.

The key outside markets today see the U.S. dollar index slightly firmer. Crude oil prices are firmer and trading around $57.00 a barrel. The yield on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note is presently 4.16%.

Note: The gold market operates through two primary pricing mechanisms. The first is the spot market, which quotes prices for on-the-spot purchase and immediate delivery. The second is the futures market, which sets prices for delivery at a future date. Due to year-end positioning market liquidity, the December gold futures contract is currently the most actively traded on the CME.

Technically, February gold futures bulls’ next upside price objective is to produce a close above solid resistance at the contract/record high of $4,584.00. Bears’ next near-term downside price objective is pushing futures prices below solid technical support at $4,284.30. First resistance is seen at the overnight high of $4,475.20 and then at $4,500.00. First support is seen at $4,400.00 and then at this week’s low of $4,354.60.

March silver futures see this week’s price action raising the specter of a bearish double-top reversal pattern forming on the daily bar chart. The bulls’ next upside price objective is closing prices above solid technical resistance at the record high of $82.67. The next downside price objective for the bears is closing prices below solid support at last week’s low of $69.225. First resistance is seen at $75.00 and then at $76.00. Next support is seen at $74.00 and then at $72.50.

Posted by:

Jack Dempsey, President

401 Gold Consultants LLC

jdemp2003@gmail.com