Gold lower in Asia-Pac trade last at...........>

GOLD: Gold lower in Asia-Pac trade last at $1,308.22 down $4.98, a wave of

selling in Asia pushing the yellow metal below low levels hit in the knee jerk

reaction following FOMC minutes. Gold is down for a 2nd consecutive day after

initially hitting $1,321.56 on Wednesday, the highest level since mid-Sept. As

flagged by MNI previously the gold rally looked slightly over extended, the

14-day RSI hit 75 yesterday, above the 70 level that suggests overbought

conditions. The last time the RSI rose above 70 saw prices drop some $96 from

around $1,357. The main driver of the move is the FOMC minutes, in general the

minutes were positive and have boosted the USD, DXY last up 0.22 at 92.184 and

some 0.4% higher than the open on Wednesday. Asia shares were stronger which

also dampened the appeal of the precious metal, Japanese markets in particular

soared in the first trading day of 2018 following the "Bank Holiday" break. 

- Market will now look ahead to ADP data on Thursday, a pre-cursor to the NFP

figures on Friday.

- MNI technical analysis sees support at $1302.5 - Low Jan 2, resistance is seen

at $1321.3 - Hourly resistance Jan 3.