Gold was on the increase, but it was met with some resistance along the way, due to the strength of US Treasury yields and the dollar, in anticipation of an imminent Fed rate hike. Market players are looking forward to the release of the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy minutes from the December meeting, which is slated for later today. Rising Treasury yields raised the potential cost of keeping non-yielding bullion, stifling the upward momentum of the precious metal. On the statistics front, according to figures released at 18:15 GMT, the ADP Non-Farm Employment Change surged to 807K, exceeding the projected 405K, which boosted the US dollar and limited any further advances in gold prices. The US Final Services PMI, which was released at 19:45 GMT, remained unchanged at 57.6. After a rate hike, gold will find support from growing inflationin the coming months.

Worries over high prices resurfaced on Wednesday, prompting some buying activity in the safe-haven metal, gold. Furthermore, the rapid global spread of the Omicron variant of COVID-19 provoked renewed lockdowns from some countries, and delayed reopening in others, increasing the safe-haven attraction. Because Omicron is now so widespread, New Zealand has postponed the reopening of its international borders.

According to the head scientist of the World Health Organization, Dr. Soumya Swaminathan, many nations are still not sequencing Omicron, even though the SARS-CoV-2 variant has become the prevalent coronavirus variant worldwide.

Numbers of coronavirus cases have increased significantly in several parts of the world, including Europe, the United States and Asia, particularly Japan. For example, the United States reported more than 1 million new coronavirus cases in a single day, adding to existing fears about global economic recovery. However, the uncertainties in the market revived the safe-haven appeal, pushing gold higher.

Daily Technical Levels

Support                 Resistance
1,811.96                 1,834.46
1,798.83                1,843.83
1,789.46                1,856.96
Pivot Point:          1,821.33

Trading in gold is sharply bearish, after a plunge below the $1,806 support level. On the lower side, the XAU/USD may find immediate support at 1,790, and a break below this could extend the selling trend until the 1,775 level.

On the higher side, the precious metal, gold, may find the next resistance at 1,806, and a break above 1,806 may extend the uptrend until 1,818. The RSI and Stoch RSI are heading lower in the selling zone, so the idea is to place a sell trade under the 1,806 level. Good luck!