Gold and silver prices retreated sharply over the past week. No specific piece of news drove the decline. Instead, prices were merely resuming their downtrend after consolidating since January. As it can be seen from the chart below, gold remains within its downward channel. Prices may pause again to catch their breath before falling to the key support area between $1500 and $1550.
Silver has held up a bit better than gold, but it too is in the process of breaking down and was last trading below the support level at $29.75. A confirmed breakdown would open a path to key support near $26.
In fundamental news, the World Gold Council released its full-year, supply and demand figures for the gold market in 2012. We went over the numbers in a report last week, but suffice it to say, it was a relatively strong year for gold demand. Though overall tonnage demand fell 4 percent in the period, on a value basis, gold demand hit a record due to the high gold price.