Gold broke above the late-November highs this week and gave the bulls something to cheer but the optimism has been washed away with gold down $25 to $1227 today.
The taper-trade is in full swing with the US dollar higher, stocks lower, bonds lower and gold selling off. Strong retail sales give the Fed another reason to scale out of asset purchases next week. If they don’t, they will probably make a strong hint at a January taper, especially with a US budget deal nearly complete.
Technically, the three-day rally stalled out at the 38.2% retracement of the Oct-Dec fall and that points to further pain for the gold bulls.
Gold daily
