Gold traded either side of unchanged last night in a tight range of $1315.40 - $1321. It was unable to rally against some early weakness in the dollar (DX to 91.49) during Asian hours from some early strength in the yen (109.40 – 109.13, BOJ kept policy steady, removed time frame on reaching 2% inflation target).
Some pressure on gold came from news that North and South Korea agreed to formally end their 7-decade war, and pursue a complete denuclearization of the Peninsula, but it was supported at yesterday’s $1315 low.
Later during European hours, the DX turned higher (DX to 91.88, resistance at the Jan 12 high) as the pound plunged ($1.3930 - $1.3750, miss on UK GDP) and the euro softened ($1.2115 - $1.2065, miss on French GDP, German Import Prices).
Gold remained well-supported, however, and was able to inch up to its high as bargain-hunting bids were prevalent.
A drift down in the US 10-year bond yield (2.988% - 2.966%) was supportive of gold while mostly firmer global equities were a headwind: NIKKEI +0.7%, SCI +0.2%, Eurozone up from 0.1% to 0.7%, S&P futures unch.
At 8:30 AM, a better than expected headline reading on US Q1 GDP (2.3% vs. exp. 2.0%) lifted US stock futures (S&P futures to 2676), and the 10-year yield (2.983%).
The DX jumped to 91.99, and pressed gold lower. However, support emerged to limit gold’s downside to $1317, well in front of the overnight/yesterday’s low (hints of gold being oversold).
Shortly afterward, focus turned to the Personal Consumption and Core PCE components, which were slight misses. The DX pulled back to 91.71, and gold pushed through the overnight high to reach $1322.
At 10 AM, a better than expected University of Michigan...