Gold ticks higher, still negative for seventh consecutive week

Gold snapped three days of losing streak and edged higher on Friday, albeit remained closer to last week's 10-month low amid pre-Christmas lighter trading conditions.

Currently hovering around $1132 level, the precious metal extended its range-bound bearish consolidative move and traded in negative territory for the seventh consecutive week, having recorded a slide of over 15% following Donald Trump's surprise victory in the US presidential election and hawkish Fed outlook. 

Meanwhile, a mild US Dollar retracement, which tends to benefit dollar-denominated commodities, is also lending some support to the metal's recovery on Friday. The recovery, however, lacked momentum as investors seemed convinced that aggressive fiscal stimulus by Trump administration would spur faster US economic growth and lift inflationary pressure. Upbeat economic outlook and higher inflation would eventually force the central bank to opt for tighter monetary policy stance and continue weighing on the non-yielding yellow metal. 

Technical levels to watch

On the upside, the commodity is likely to confront resistance near $1136-37 region (Wednesday's high) above which the recovery could get extended towards $1143-44 resistance area. On the downside, the metal is likely to find support around $1127-25 region, which if broken is likely to drag it back towards multi-month lows support near $1122 ahead of $1110 support area.