A Little Above Wednesday’s Nine-Month Lows

Gold is little changed at typing to print $1,739/oz, operating within a tight ~$6 trading range in Asia. The precious metal sits a little above Wednesday’s nine-month lows ($1,732.3/oz), with wider worry re: central bank rate hikes remaining in focus.

• To recap, gold continued its descent on Wed, closing $16/oz lower for a third consecutive daily loss. The move lower was facilitated by a continued rise in the USD (with the DXY notching a fresh 20-year high above the 107.00 handle), adding to downward pressure from an uptick in U.S. real yields.
• Precious metals (silver and platinum) have followed gold lower in recent sessions, with a strengthening Dollar and debate re: Fed hiking and to fight inflation evidently weighing on non-yielding metals.
• From a technical perspective, conditions remain bearish for gold after a break of key short-term support and bear trigger at $1,787.0/oz (May 16 low). Initial support at $1,753.1/oz (Dec 15 ‘21 low) has also been broken, exposing support at $1,721.7/oz (Sep 29 ‘21 low), while a break of that level will expose further support at $1,706.3/oz (1.618 proj of the Mar 8-29-Apr 18 price swing).