- Gold prices pullback after dropping the most in over a month.
- US dollar strength stopped buyers from cheering the drawdown in equities amid waning market sentiment.
- Virus woes are the strongest catalysts, US stimulus deadlock, Brexit and the Sino-American tussle also weigh on the mood.
- Risk catalysts to keep the powder dry, the second version of Fed Chair’s testimony will also be the key.
Gold retraces from the lowest from August 12 to $1,913 amid the early Asian session on Tuesday. The bullion dropped to the multi-day low as the market’s risk-off tone preferred the US dollar above all, which in turn has an inverse correlation with the safe-haven metal.
Virus woes take the lead in fuelling the greenback…
The coronavirus (COVID-19) resurgence in Europe and the UK sours the trading sentiment off-late. While local lockdowns have been in fashion in some parts of the bloc and northern Britain, pubs and restaurants in England are to have a closing time of 10:00 PM starting from Tuesday. While the BOE policymakers are yet to mark their pessimism, the European Central Bank (ECB) President Christine Lagarde and Germany’s Finance Minister Olaf Scholz have already spoken dovish the previous day. On the other hand, the Fed Chairman’s first version of testimony also suggested that the path ahead for the economy remains "highly uncertain".
While adding color to the risk-off mood, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo praised Germany, France and the UK to back ejection of China's unlawful maritime claims in the South China Sea at the United Nations. Additionally, the struggle of the American Congress, in overcoming the stimulus deadlock ahead of the September-end deadline, joins the risk of hard Brexit to portray the market’s downbeat mood.
Amid all these catalysts, Wall Street marked losses on Monday whereas S&P 500 Futures seem to pause around eight-week lows by the time of press. It’s worth mentioning that the US dollar index (DXY) probed August 12 high during the previous day’s run-up before settling around 93.54.
Moving on, a light calendar in Asia keeps the risk catalysts on the driver’s seat. However, comments from the US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell and other Fed policymakers, during separate events, will entertain momentum traders.
Technical analysis
A sustained break below the 50-day SMA, at $1,917 now, directs the sellers toward the August 12 low near $1,863.
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