Biden's Powell Pick Applies Pressure

A narrow Asia-Pac session for spot gold sees the benchmark trade a handful of dollars higher on the day, last printing just above $1,805/oz. To recap, Monday saw U.S. President Biden offer Fed Chair Powell the chance to serve a second term atop the central bank, triggering broader USD strength and a rally for our weighted U.S. real yield monitor, which weighed on gold (note that Powell was deemed the more hawkish when compared to his main challenger, Lael Brainard). Spot gold threatened to test $1,800/oz on Monday, but never quite got there. After moving through near-term support levels, a break through yesterday's low ($1,802.4/oz) would expose key support in the form of the Nov 3 low ($1,759.0/oz). Bulls need to reclaim yesterday's high ($1,849.1/oz) to regain some control.