Edging Lower On a Firmer USD

Gold is down slightly from closing levels at the end of last week, as the USD has recouped some losses from late last week. We were last around $1654, -0.20% for the session so far. We spiked above $1670 early in the session, as the yen rebound led a broad wave of USD selling, before correcting back lower.

• Still, the precious metal has held onto a good proportion of gains from late last week. The dip below $1620 level was supported on Friday evening, and we remained above recent cyclical lows from September 28th.
• The 0.80% gain for gold last week was a little at odds with higher US real yields (the 10yr finished the week down slightly at 1.68%, but this was still +10bps for the week), but it only partially reverses the -3% fall from the week prior.
• Us yield momentum will likely remain key to gold's fortunes over a multi-day horizon.