Gold up smalls, still below $1,290/oz

After three consecutive daily pullbacks, the ounce troy of the safe haven metal seems to have found some respite today and is currently navigating the vicinity of the $1,290 area.

Gold looks to Fed, USD

Despite today’s so far tepid rebound, Bullion remains under pressure in light of the prospects of further tightening by the Federal Reserve via rate hikes, likely to be announced at the December 13 meeting. In this regard, the probability of a rate hike by year end is above 90%, according to CME Group’s FedWatch tool.

In addition, the precious metal is closely following the headlines coming from the election of the successor of Janet Yellen at the helm of the Federal Reserve when she finishes her term, with J.Taylor (hawk) currently being the front-runner.

It is worth mentioning that other suitable candidates are current FOMC’s member J.Powell (seen on the dovish side) and former governor K.Warsh (centrist/hawkish).

On the USD-side, the US Dollar Index remains underpinned by the performance of yields in the US money markets, where yields of the 10-year benchmark stay sidelined in the upper end of the recent range.

Gold key levels

As of writing Gold is gaining 0.23% at $1,286.03 and a breakout of $1,290.21 (10-day sma) would aim for $1,300.84 (55-day sma) and finally $1,308.40 (high Oct.16). On the other hand, the immediate support emerges at $1,278.75 (100-day sma) followed by $1,262.80 (low Oct.6) and finally $1,259.67 (200-day sma).