Gold offered at 200-DMA, moving off daily highs

Gold leaped to $1250 area during the first hour of the NA session, where the critical 200-DMA is located, but couldn't gather enough momentum to break above that level, as major US equity indices started to erase the early losses.

The S&P 500 Index dropped 5 points at the opening but is up 2 points at the time of writing while the Dow Jones Industrial Average corrected about 40 points after starting the day with a 60 point loss. However, concerns over a possible failure of passing the legislation to dismantle Obamacare could continue to weigh on the investor sentiment for the remainder of the day, limiting the gains.

Additionally, the yields in US money markets continue to weigh on the greenback. For the second day in a row, 10-year bond yields are losing more than 1%, keeping the DXY around 99.50. 

Gold spikes one week after Fed rate hike - Swissquote

Technical outlook

At the moment, the precious metal is up 0.38% at $1249.47 facing the next resistance at $1250 (200-DMA) followed by $1257 (upper-arm of the daily Bollinger) and $1264 (Feb. 27 high). On the downside, a break below $1243.80 (daily low) could aim for $1235 (Mar. 20 high) and $1225 (50-DMA).