Gold sinks to lows near $1,260

After advancing to session highs above $1,270 in early trade, the ounce troy of the precious metal has deflated to daily lows near the $1,260 handle.

Gold well supported around $1,250

The metal keeps the choppy trade in recent sessions, although decent support seems to have emerged around monthly lows in the $1,250 region for the time being.

Expectations of a rate hike by the Fed by year-end continues to support the USD-rally while keeping occasional bullish attempts in the yellow metal somewhat limited.

In spite of today’s selling note, the greenback remains well underpinned by sentiment, speculative positioning and recent comments by FOMC’s Dudley and Williams, signalling and increasing likeliness of higher rates in December.

Gold key levels

As of writing Gold is losing 0.30% at $1,263.85 and a break below $1,249.50 (low Oct.5) would open the door to $1,219.05 (50% Fibo retracement of the 2016 up move) and finally $1,199.00 (low May.31). On the flip side, the next up barrier lines up at $1,272.55 (high Oct.24) followed by $1,288.32 (200-day sma) and then $1,320.59 (100-day sma).