Gold inter-markets: looking for catalyst to conquer 200-DMA barrier

Gold remained under some selling pressure and broke through three-day old trading range to hit fresh weekly lows during early NA session on Thursday.

Today's better-than-expected revision of the US GDP growth figures for the fourth quarter of 2016 helped the key US Dollar Index to recover back above the key 100.00 psychological mark and was seen driving flows away from dollar-denominated commodities - like gold. 

Today's data also reaffirmed Wednesday's hawkish rhetoric from couple of FOMC members that the incoming economic data continue to point towards solid fundamentals of the US economy and thus, warrants additional Fed rate-hike action during 2017. The view is being further reinforced by the ongoing recovery in the US treasury bond yields, which is also collaborating towards the offered tone surrounding the non-yielding yellow metal.

However, with the Volatility Index (VIX) already near suppressed level, pointing to growing investors' appetite for riskier assets - like equities, a sharp reversal in sentiment would boost demand for traditional safe-haven assets and could act as a catalyst that could assist the commodity to build on to its recovery move beyond the very important 200-day SMA.

Market participants on Thursday will remain focused on speeches from Dallas Fed President Robert Kaplan and San Francisco Fed President John Williams, where comments on economy would influence market expectations for the Fed's monetary policy outlook and eventually provide fresh impetus for the commodity.