Gold is down 0.4%, falling to a low of $1,707 earlier in Asian trading

Gold D1 02-03

A firmer dollar is also part of the story today but the gold outlook has been rather shaky for quite a while now. The break of the November low last week has not helped whatsoever as that leaves little in the way of a push towards $1,700.

The 61.8 retracement level sits @ $1,689.89 with some swing region support seen closer to $1,670 and that is a key region to watch for gold as the downtrend extends.

The gold outlook will still ride heavily on the rates story and that hasn't quite moved in the yellow metal's favour as of late. Adding to that is ETF positioning continuing to be trimmed after five months of decline since September.

Gold

Once again, this to me tells more of the story in gold and it corroborates with the breakdown in the technical picture that we are seeing since the start of the year.

The drag in gold is also having some spillover impact on other precious metals, with silver also down by nearly 2% today and closing in on key trendline support near $26:

Silver

Platinum is also down 1% on the day as it extends a fall back below $1,200 and is closing in on Friday's lows around $1,168-74.