Daily Times

Gold fell for the third consecutive day to a three-week low on Friday amid firmer US Treasury bond yields and stronger dollar.

As of 1230 hours GMT, gold in the international market was available at $1,790.70 per ounce, shedding $6.40. The release of the Federal Reserve latest policy statement triggered a jump in the US Treasury bond yields and the dollar, dimming appetite for non-yielding gold. International gold prices dropped around 3 percent in three days.

The price of 10 grams of yellow metal in Pakistan, meanwhile, decreased to Rs101,600 after shedding Rs400. Gold in the local market was available at Rs102,000 on Thursday. A relatively higher decrease in the local gold prices was also due to appreciation of the rupee against the US dollar. The price of 10 grams of yellow metal decreased by Rs2,700 a day earlier.

Expectations for a more aggressive policy response by the Federal Reserve along with elevated US Treasury bond yields pushed the US dollar to the highest level since July 2020. The greenback was further underpinned by Thursday’s release of the Advance US GDP report, which showed that the world’s largest economy grew at a 6.9 percent annualised pace during the fourth quarter. For 2021 as a whole, the economy expanded by 5.8 percent and notched its strongest growth in nearly four decades. A stronger buck was seen as another factor that exerted pressure on the dollar-denominated gold and contributed to its decline.

From a technical perspective, the Relative Strength Index (RSI) is still below the midline and the downside bias appears well in place. The negative outlook is reinforced by bearish technical indicators on the daily chart, which are still far from being in the oversold territory. The next significant target for gold bears is seen at $1,783, the January lows. A firm break below the latter will accelerate the sell-off towards $1,750.

On the flip side, Thursday’s closing below the 100-DMA at $1,795 provides the extra zest to sellers. Any retracement from lower levels will face an initial hurdle at the bearish 50-DMA of $1,802, above which the flattish 200-DMA at $1,806 will come into the picture. Recapturing the 21-DMA at $1,818 is critical to negating the bearish momentum in the near-term.