Gold and silver pricesare down but off their session lows in midday trading Monday. Gold notched a five-weeklow today, while silver hit a nine-week bottom, as risk-on trader and investorattitudes at present are keeping buyers of the safe-haven metals scarce.However, U.S. stock indexes are selling off as the trading session progresses,which has lifted gold and silver prices off of their daily lows. April gold futures were last down $9.80 an ounce at$1,289.50. May Comex silver was last down $0.136 at $15.12 anounce.

It’sa “do-or-die” week for the gold and silver market bulls. They need to step upand show good power this week, to avoid more serious technical damage beinginflicted, which would then suggest both metals trending sideways to lower forat least the next few weeks.

Asianand European stock markets were mostly higher overnight, with the stockmarket in China hitting a nine-month high. The Wall Street Journal reportedSunday the U.S. and China are close to finalizing a trade agreement. The storysaid China would lower its tariffs on U.S. imported goods, with the U.S. doingthe same on most or all of the trade sanctions it levied against China lastyear. The report said U.S. President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinpingwill meet in Florida later this month. A trade deal would end months of traderand investor uncertainty regarding the world’s two largest economies penalizingeach other.

Attentionof the marketplace later this week will be on the European Central Bank’sregular monetary policy meeting on Thursday. The ECB is expected to loosen itspurse strings on money in order to stimulate an anaemic Euro zone economy.