Treading Water Above $1,770; FOMC Minutes Eyed

Gold is little changed, printing ~$1,776/oz at writing. The precious metal operates a little above one-week lows, with recent Dollar strength providing evident headwinds for the space.

• To recap, the precious metal closed ~$4/oz lower on Tuesday, worsening Monday’s steep ~$23/oz decline amidst an uptick in U.S. real yields, with the USD (DXY) closing little changed on the day, holding on to the bulk of its gains from a two-day rally prior.
• Measures of investor interest have continued to weaken as well, with total known ETF holdings of gold on track to fall for a ninth consecutive week, hitting levels last witnessed in end-Feb at typing.
• Looking ahead, focus will centre on the minutes for the Fed’s July FOMC, with U.S. MBA mortgage applications, retail sales data, and Fedspeak from the Fed’s Bowman expected to provide additional points of interest prior (noting that Bowman’s scheduled speaking topics may limit the scope for commentary on monetary policy).
• From a technical perspective, Tuesday’s moves lower in gold has seen it break initial support at ~$1,772.0/oz (20-Day EMA), exposing further support at $1,754.4/oz (Aug 3 low, key short-term support). On the other hand, initial resistance is seen at $1,807.9/oz (Aug 10 high and bull trigger).