Follow Kitco News on the Updated Kcast Gold Live!+ for the iPhone -- Now You Can Watch Kitco Video News Right from Your Phone! (Kitco News) - Comex gold futures prices are trading strongly higher Monday morning and overnight hit another all-time record high of $1,718.20, basis December futures. With gold leading the way, the precious metals are seeing strong safe-haven investment demand after the U.S. got a debt downgrade late Friday and as the European Union attempts to contain its own escalating debt crisis. December gold last traded up $54.70 at $1,706.20 an ounce. Spot gold last traded up $40.60 an ounce at $1,704.50. December Comex silver last traded up $1.509 at $39.75 an ounce. The late-Friday Standard & Poors downgrade of the U.S. debt rating was not a real big surprise to most market watchers, but the market place is seeing a strong reaction to the news. Ironically, the U.S. dollar index is only trading slightly lower and U.S. Treasuries are actually higher on the news. That's a clue that there are many who still feel the U.S. is still the best bet during times of heightened trader and investor uncertainty. Also, many traders have little respect for the Standard & Poors and other major ratings agencies, after they failed miserably regarding correctly rating other assets and entities the past three years. Meantime, the leaders in the European Union are scrambling and making pronouncements to try to calm the market place. Emergency weekend meetings concluded with the European Central Bank pledging to buy more EU debt. However, the market place was unimpressed with the rhetoric coming from EU officials. Many agree the more serious worldwide debt situation lies with the European Union and not the U.S. The strong upside price action in gold is less a reflection on the S&P downgrade Friday afternoon, but more a reflection of the overall postures of the world's currency markets and the world's economies. Those buying and holding gold see the recent political bickering in the U.S. and European Union, unstable currency markets and flagging world economies as pointing them directly to what they perceive as the ultimate world currency: gold. The gold naysayers who have repeatedly scoffed at those investors sinking their money into gold have plenty of egg on their face at present. Crude oil prices are trading sharply lower again Monday morning and hit a fresh 10-month low near $83.00 a barrel overnight, amid the world economic slowdown worries and risk aversion. Crude oil has seen serious near-term chart damage inflicted. Crude will continue to be a major "outside market" force for the precious metals, and especially silver. U.S. economic data due for release Monday is light and includes the employment trends index. The London A.M. gold fixing was $1,709.25 versus the previous P.M. fixing of $1,658.75. Technically, December Comex gold futures bulls have the strong overall near-term technical advantage and gained still more power Monday. There are still no early technical warning signals to suggest a market top is close at hand and the path of least resistance for prices remains sideways to higher overall. Bulls' next near-term upside technical objective is to produce a close above solid technical resistance at $1,750.00. Bears' next near-term downside price objective is closing prices below technical support at $1,640.00. First resistance is seen at the record high of $1,718.20, at $1,725.00. First support is seen at $1,690.00 and then at the overnight low of $1,681.70. December silver futures bulls have the overall near-term and longer-term technical advantage but trading has turned choppy recently. Prices Friday did close at a bearish weekly low close. Importantly, the silver bulls are not nearly in the powerfully bullish technical posture that gold now enjoys. Silver bulls' next upside price objective is producing a close above solid technical resistance at last week's high of $42.31 an ounce. The next downside price breakout objective for the bears is closing prices below solid technical support at $37.00. First resistance is seen at $40.00 and then at the overnight high of $40.405. Next support is seen at $39.00 and then at the overnight low of $38.41. Follow me on Twitter to immediately get the very latest market developments. If you are not on board, then you are not getting key analysis and perspective as fast or as often as you could! Follow me on Twitter to get my very timely intra-day and after-hours briefs on precious metals price action. The precious markets will remain very active. If you want market analysis fast, and in after-hours trading, then follow my up-to-the-second precious metals market perspective on Twitter. It's free, too. My account is @jimwyckoff . By Jim Wyckoff of Kitco News; jwyckoff@kitco.com <<Back to more Kitco exclusive news