Throughout today’s session, trading February GOLD futures has been like watching paint dry. It appears that the upcoming U.K. Parliamentary vote on May’s Brexit deal has many traders taking a wait-and-see approach to bullion.

At press time (1:15 PM EST), the U.S. indices are exhibiting modest activity and the USD is hanging in there against the majors. For now, it is a quiet Monday afternoon on Wall Street.

February Gold Futures

The daily chart for February gold futures gives us a clear picture of just how important the 50% Retracement of 2018’s Range is to price action. 1292.9 has dominated the last eight sessions, driving two-way participation and setting up to be either a launch point to the bull or bear.

Until bullion finally breaks out, there are two price points I will be watching very closely:

• Breakout Point(1): Last Week’s High, 1298.0
• Breakout Point(2): Last Week’s Low, 1280.1

Bottom Line: Each of these breakout points will bring high degrees of participation and enhanced order flow to February gold futures. Until elected, I will have buy orders in queue at 1298.1 and sell orders from 1280.0. Using a standard 1:1 risk vs reward management plan, this scalp produces a fast 10 ticks on robust momentum.

Technically, I maintain a bullish bias toward gold as price remains well above the 38% Current Wave Retracement (1276.0). In the event things heat up above 1298.0, significant extension north of the Swing High (1300.4) will become probable.