Gold is flat in the Asia-Pac session, the......>

GOLD: Gold is flat in the Asia-Pac session, the yellow metal last down $0.02 at

$1,274.99. Gold is holding the majority of losses from the US yesterday on hopes

for a resolution on the tax bill and PCE data, however downside is limited by

some jitters over the passage of the bill after Senate Republicans suspended

voting as they seek to salvage the bill.

- Data from Asia was largely ignored, in Japan Core CPI in line with estimates

at 0.8% annually, Jobless Rate steady at 2.8%, Non-Financial Firm Capex was

higher than expected at 4.2%, while Manufacturing PMI dipped slightly to 53.6,

confirming the weaker trend seen in Industrial Production data earlier this

week. Meanwhile Caixin Chinese Manufacturing PMI slipped to 50.8 in November

from 50.8, in contrast to the official PMI which rose to 51.8 in November.

- MNI technical analysis sees support at $1269.9 - Low Nov 14, resistance is

seen at $1285.4 - High Nov 30. Pressure on the 21-DMA ($1282.3) took its toll

with a break below that sees immediate focus back on the $1260.2-1269.9 region

where the 200-DMA. bull channel base off Dec 20 2916 lows and Bollinger base are

situated.