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Gold weakens farther below $1200 mark heading into FOMC decision

   “¢   A sudden pickup in the USD demand prompts some aggressive selling.
   “¢   Bearish traders shrug off cautious equity markets/sliding US bond yields.
   “¢   The latest FOMC policy update might help determine the near-term trajectory.

Gold weakened farther below the key $1200 psychological mark and is currently placed at the lower end of its weekly trading range.  

After an initial uptick to an intraday high level of $1202.49, the precious metal met with some fresh supply and kept losing ground through the early North-American session amid a sudden pickup in the US Dollar demand.

Heading into the highly anticipated FOMC monetary policy decision, traders seemed inclined to lighten their bearish USD positions and was eventually seen driving flows away from the dollar-denominated commodity.  

Even the prevalent cautious mood, as depicted by a mildly weaker tone around European equity markets, and which tends to underpin the precious metal’s safe-haven demand, also did little to lend any support.  

With the Fed widely expected to raise benchmark interest rates by 25bps, the key focus will be on the accompanying rate statement and the post-meeting press conference.  

The Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s comments will be closely scrutinized for clues over the pace of rate increases beyond September, which would help investors determine the next leg of a directional move for the non-yielding yellow metal.

Technical levels to watch

Immediate support is pegged near the $1192-91 region, below which the commodity is likely to accelerate the slide towards $1185 intermediate support en-route the $1174 area.  

On the flip side, the $1200 handle now becomes an immediate hurdle, which if cleared might trigger a short-covering bounce and lift the metal back towards $1210 supply zone.
 

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