Gold trades steady ahead of US data

London (Dec 11)  Gold prices have steadied around USD 1223 levels ahead of the advance retail sales and the weekly jobless claims data in the US.

The yellow metal currently trades 0.36% lower at USD 1223/Oz levels. Prices have recovered from low tracking losses in the major European equity indices. However, further gains are contingent on the quality of weekly jobless claims in the US. The initial jobless claims for the last week are seen at 295K, slightly lower than the previous week’s print of 297K. Meanwhile, the advance retail sales in November are expected to come-in at 0.4%, slightly higher than October’s 0.3%.

Moreover, the weekly jobs data is likely to overshadow the advance retail sales number, especially since after the stellar November month jobs report released last Friday. The metal may weaken if the data shows sharp decline in the jobless claims.

Gold Technical Levels

The metal has an immediate support located at 1221, under which prices may fall to 1207 levels. Meanwhile, resistance is seen at 1233.40 and 1239 levels.

Source: FXstreet