The markets are off and running in March. Today’s open has featured bullish action in the U.S. indices, with the DJIA, S&P 500 SPX, and NASDAQ trending north. It appears that risk is back in style and the traditional safe-haven gold is taking a beating.

It seems like only yesterday that April GOLD futures were testing the 1350.0 handle. Now, a little under two weeks later, prices are on the doorstep of 1300.0. Given the super-charged news cycle and geopolitical events of the past week, gold should have held its value. This was not the case and one has to wonder if 2019 is going to be a big year for stock market bulls.

April Gold Futures: Technical Outlook

Bearish sentiment is the order of the day once again for April gold futures. At press time (10:00 AM EST), it appears that this market will post its third straight losing session.

This market has broken below two key daily support levels and there is no end in sight. If bargain hunters step in later this afternoon, it will be worth keeping an eye on these resistance levels:

• Resistance(1): Daily SMA, 1318.3
• Resistance(2): Bollinger MP, 1318.6

Overview: It is always a challenge to predict the top or bottom of a trend. Nonetheless, the 1300.0 level in gold may set up as an intermediate-term low. In the event that price tests this area in coming sessions, a long trade setup may develop.

Thus far, March has started with a bang for stocks and a lull for gold. If this becomes a pattern over the next few sessions, bullion may be headed for the 1275.0-1250.0 area very quickly.