The first hour of trade on Wall Street has been interesting. Amid a rising USD, equities and gold have sold off considerably in the last 60 minutes. While it is anyone’s guess where these markets will end up, the bears are in full control during the early portion of the U.S. session.

June gold futures are the big story of the day. Off almost 250 ticks, price has fallen dramatically beneath the psychological level of 1300.0. A bit more on the significance of the crash later on.

In the past 12 hours, there have been two trading signals actively shorting gold. Both hit paydirt, cashing in on the washout. If you got in on the action, well done!

Gold Technicals

It is very difficult to argue with the validity of big round numbers. 1300.0 was a key level on the minds of many traders. Earlier in the session, we saw sub-1300.0 pricing for the first time in 2018.

In an update from yesterday, I broke down some long-term resistance levels for gold. These levels have held, and the tight trading range of Monday has given way to a powerful downtrend in bullion.

Overview: Today’s sell-off is the first time that gold has traded beneath 1300.0 since December of 2017. It is worth noting the location of 1300.0 within the context of the prevailing trend. Last December, bulls jumped into this market at 1300.0 and drove price north to 1373.3. Are we now in for the reverse scenario and prolonged downtrend?

It is a possibility. Remember, we are entering a hot geopolitical news cycle. With the U.S./North Korea summit scheduled for June 12 and a FED rate hike for the 13th, look for an active month on the gold markets. If the USD continues to rally and strides for a denuclearized Korean peninsula are made, traders may be ready to exit their bullion holdings en masse.