• Gold held steady on Thursday, after hitting an eight-week low in the previous session, as the Federal Reserve minutes released on Wednesday showed the central bank was split on how inflation might affect the future pace of interest rate hikes.
Spot gold was nearly flat at $1,226.70 per ounce at 0421 GMT. It touched $1,217.14 in the previous session, its lowest since May 10.
• "The FOMC meeting minutes gave some strength to gold in the previous session through the dollar's weakness," said Yuichi Ikemizu, Tokyo branch manager at ICBC Standard Bank, adding that "(investors) used this opportunity to buy back their positions."
• US data on tap later in the day includes the ADP employment report, ISM non-manufacturing PMI and the initial jobless claims.
Investors will also look to comments from San Francisco Fed President John Williams and Fed Board Governor Jerome Powell.
• "With the dollar relatively steady and US equities firm, we suspect that the short-term direction for gold will be lower still," said INTL FCStone analyst Edward Meir.
"The precious metal seems to be having trouble moving higher and geopolitical tensions (specifically with North Korea) do not seem to be much of a help," he added.
• Among other precious metals, silver rose 0.1 per cent to $16.10 per ounce. In the previous session, it hit a low of$15.84 an ounce, its lowest since Dec. 30.
• Gold markets initially tried to rally but then fell apart during the day on Wednesday, but rolled over and broke below the $1225 level. We then broke down to the $1217 level before bouncing again. However, the market has been in a downtrend and we have broken down below the bottom of a bearish flag. I think that we will continue to go lower, so I’m looking to sell this market and aim for the $1200 level underneath which I think will be much more substantial as far support is concerned. The $1225 level above should be resistance, and I think that sellers will come back into play once we get to that area. Honestly, it’s not until we break above the $1230 level that I would consider buying this market.
Geopolitical concerns will probably be the biggest driver of gold if we do go higher, with the special eye being tilted towards the Korean peninsula as the recent missile test shows just how precarious the situation could be.
Reference: Reuters, FXEmpire
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