• Gold prices held steady on Thursday, after rising nearly half a percent in the previous session, as the dollar edged down, but views on higher U.S. interest rates limited gains.
• Spot gold was mostly unchanged at $1,205.58 an ounce at 0028 GMT. Prices hit their highest since Aug. 10 at $1,214.28 on Tuesday.
• U.S. gold futures were also mostly steady at $1,211.82 an ounce on Wednesday.
• Gross domestic product grew at a 4.2 percent annualized rate, the Commerce Department data showed in its second estimate of GDP growth for the second quarter. That was slightly up from the 4.1 percent pace of expansion reported in July.
• The data cemented expectations for a U.S. rate hike next month, with a 96 percent probability, according to fed funds futures.
• The U.S. Federal Reserve should be ready to lift interest rates for a longer period or even more quickly than currently expected to insure against a jump in inflation in a U.S. economy operating in the vicinity of full employment.
• The leaders of the United States and Canada expressed optimism on Wednesday that they could reach new NAFTA deal by a Friday deadline as negotiators prepared to talk through the night, although Canada warned that a number of tricky issues remained.
• Asian stocks rose on Thursday as Wall Street hit record highs in the hope that the current North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) negotiations will lead to a further easing of global trade tensions.
• The first support for gold is at $1,200 per ounce and the next key level is $1,180, said ActivTrades chief analyst Carlo Alberto De Casa. Rising above $1,210 would be a first positive impulse, he added.
• Technically, gold bears still have the overall near-term technical advantage but a price downtrend on the daily bar chart has been negated to suggest a market bottom is in place. Gold bulls' next upside near-term price breakout objective is to produce a close in December futures above solid resistance at $1,226.00. Bears' next near-term downside price breakout objective is pushing prices below solid technical support at the August low of $1,167.10. First resistance is seen at this week’s high of $1,220.70 and then at $1,225.00. First support is seen at this week’s low of $1,205.80 and then at $1,200.00. Wyckoff's Market Rating:
Reference: Reuters,Kitco
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