Gold fall to over 2-week lows, below $1310 level

   “¢   The USD remains supported by the overnight upbeat data and kept exerting pressure.
   “¢   Fading safe-haven demand does little to lend any support or stall the ongoing downfall.
   “¢   Traders now eye US economic docket in order to grab some short-term opportunities.

Gold lost some additional ground for the third consecutive session on Friday and is currently placed at over two-week lows, below $1310 level.

The precious metal did get a minor boost on Thursday on the back of reviving safe-haven demand after talks between the US and North Korea broke down without a deal. The uptick, however, turned out to be short-lived and was sold into following the release of better than expected US GDP growth figures.  

Data released on Thursday showed that the US economic growth stood at 2.6% annualized pace in the final quarter of 2018, which triggered a sharp upsurge in the US Treasury bond yields and eventually prompted some aggressive selling around the non-yielding yellow metal.

Surging bond yields helped the US Dollar to regain positive traction, which extended through the early European session on the last trading day of the week and continued exerting downward pressure on the dollar-denominated commodity.  

Meanwhile, the prevalent risk-on mood, supported by better than expected Chinese manufacturing PMI, dented the precious metal’s relative safe-haven status and also did little to stall the ongoing sharp retracement slide from 10-month tops set on Feb. 20.

Market participants now look forward to the US economic docket, featuring the release of personal income/spending data, ISM manufacturing PMI and revised UoM Consumer Sentiment index, for some impetus and in order to grab some short-term trading opportunities.

Technical levels to watch

Immediate support is pegged near the $1303-02 region, below which the commodity is likely to break through the key $1300 psychological mark and test its next support near the $1294-93 horizontal zone. On the flip side, the $1310-11 area now becomes immediate resistance, which if cleared might lift the commodity back towards the $1320 supply zone en-route the $1328-29 strong hurdle.