Gold hits fresh session tops ahead of key US data

Gold extended its steady up-move through the mid-European session and touched a fresh session high near the $1223 region ahead of the key US economic data.

A softer tone surrounding the US US Dollar was seen benefitting the dollar-denominated precious metal. This coupled with the prevalent cautious environment, as depicted by subdued trading action in European equity markets, provided an additional boost to traditional safe-haven assets and collaborated to the yellow metal's up-move. 

Looking at the broader picture, the commodity has repeatedly failed to surpass the $1225-26 heavy supply zone over the past couple of day. Hence, it would be prudent to wait for a strong follow through buying interest, beyond the mentioned hurdle, before confirming that the commodity could have bottomed out in the near-term.

Next in tap would be the US macro data - monthly retail sales and headline CPI print, which might influence Fed rate hike expectations and drive the US Treasury bond yields, eventually help determine the next leg of directional move for the non-yielding metal.

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Technical levels to watch

Immediate strong hurdle remains near $1225-26 region, which if conquered should trigger a short-covering rally towards the very important 200-day SMA near $1231-32 area. On the downside, $1217-16 zone now becomes an immediate support to defend, which if broken could accelerate the slide towards $1213 intermediate support en-route multi-month lows support near $1205 region.