Gold Lower Ahead of US Data, FOMC Minutes

The latest FOMC monetary policy meeting minutes, Wednesday, are expected to drive the USD demand and provide a fresh motivation to gold prices.

Gold failed to maintain its intraday gains and turned lower for the fifth straight session as the stronger USD acted as a hindrance for the precious metal.
Sliding US bond yields, COVID-19 as well as softer risk tone could account for the sliding gold prices. Gold struggled to capitalize on its modest intraday gains on Wednesday and met with fresh supply in the vicinity of the $1,800 round-figure mark.

The intraday pullback dragged spot prices to the $1,786-85 area during the mid-European session, with bears now eyeing to challenge a three-week low touched in the previous day.

USD’s support consolidates as the market expects Fed to tighten its monetary policy sooner rather than later to contain stubbornly high inflation.