In a quiet week of trading, gold is a handful-of-dollars down after moving in a narrow $20 range all week, with the 200 hour MA providing support.
The down trend remains the dominant force in the market and gold will continue to struggle as long as equities perform strongly and the dollar attracts buyers.
The dollar is again attempting to breach the key 81 level this week and the bulls will be looking for a close above this level today. This would be an ominous signal for gold.
The bulls have been unable to build on their momentum after last week's abysmal Non-Farms Payroll jobs number, finding strong resistance at the long term down trend line at 1255. We expect lower prices next week as "normal service" resumes in gold.
- Support can be found at 1237-1240, 1220-1225, 1218, 1214, 1210, 1200, 1190, 1188 and 1180. A break of 1180 would have serious bearish implications for gold and suggest a decline to 1000-1050 in the short term.
- Resistance can be found at 1250-1255, 1268-1270, 1277-1280 and 1291-1295. A break above 1268 would suggest an end to the short term down trend, though it would take a break of 1300 to suggest a more significant rally was developing.