A Little Higher In Asia

Gold sits ~$2/oz firmer to print ~$1,782/oz at typing, steadying a little above one-week lows made on Monday amidst a limited downtick in nominal U.S. Tsy yields and the USD (DXY).

• To recap, the precious metal closed ~$23/oz weaker on Tuesday, declining by the most in a month. The move lower was facilitated by a rise in the USD (DXY), with the DXY hitting fresh one-week highs as disappointing U.S. economic data added to prevailing global growth worries, after soft Chinese economic activity indicators printed earlier in the Asian session.
• Gold has so far seen little relief from rising worry surrounding China’s restart of military drills in the Taiwan Strait (in response to an unannounced visit to Taiwan by a U.S. Congressional Delegation), with the scale of the Chinese exercises so far appearing to be more limited than during the visit of U.S. House Speaker Pelosi, with a seeming step down in the intensity of official rhetoric as well.
• Focus for gold will likely remain on the Fed’s July meeting minutes, due for release on Wednesday.
• Looking to technical levels, initial support is seen at ~$1,771.2/oz (20-Day EMA), while a break of that level will expose further support at $1,754.4/oz (Aug 3 low, key short-term support). On the other hand, resistance is located at $1,807.9/oz (Aug 10 high and the bull trigger).