by Vivian Teo
The gold price edged lower on Monday morning during Asian trading hours but is seen supported at the $1,250 per ounce-level.
Spot gold was last at $1,253.80-1,254.10 per ounce, down $1.10 from Friday’s close. Trading ranged at $1,251-1,255.40 so far.
Broad support under $1,250 managed to keep the yellow metal from sliding further and the close at $1,255 on Friday is encouraging, said MKS Group on Monday morning.
The broker also noted that ETF inflows were again strong on Friday as gold increased 690,000 ounces.
Support is expected for the yellow metal broadly around $1,250 and resistance at $1,260-$1,265, it added.
Before succumbing to profit-taking, Gold had rallied last week trading above $1,270 in response to the US Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) leaving the Federal Fund rate unchanged and its dovish statement.
The FOMC said it remains concerned with the global environment and halving its dot plot forecasts for rate hikes to two from four this year.
The US dollar index fell to a five-month low of 94.58 last Friday. It was last at 95.04 on Monday, down 0.02 percent from the Friday’s close.
In other commodities, the Brent crude spot price fell 0.82 percent to $41.06 per barrel, and the Texas light sweet crude spot price increased 3.76 percent to $40.82 so far on Monday.
In equities, the Shanghai Composite is so far up 1.92 percent to 3,011.964 on Monday.
In US data released on Friday, preliminary University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment for March came in at 90.0, below the forecast of 92.1. UoM inflation expectations over the same period rose 2.7 percent, beating the previous reading of 2.5 percent.
In other precious metals, silver was down $0.062 at $15.825/15.85 recently. Platinum was $2.50 higher at $966/971, with palladium also increasing $1 to $585/591 so far on Monday.
On the Shanghai Futures Exchange, gold for June delivery was unchanged at 261.85 yuan per gram, while June silver was flat at 3,480 yuan per kilogram.
