Gold consolidated Tuesday's gains yesterday, trading in a narrow range between $1251 and $1263. This morning, gold has fallen slightly, dropping below the key $1250 level to trade around $1245.
The bulls need to hold this level on a closing basis and see some follow through buying after Tuesday's breakout, otherwise there is a danger of further selling, as the prospect of the move developing as a "fake out" increases.
The dollar is attempting to reclaim the 80 level, whilst oil is consolidating recent gains around $98 a barrel. Today sees the weekly jobless claims data released, along with US retail sales and business inventories.
Support can be found at $1240, $1235, $1223-$1227, $1217, $1212, $1200-$1207 and $1180. A break of $1180 would have serious bearish implications for gold and suggest a decline to $1000-$1050 in the short term.
Resistance can be found at $1250-$1255, $1268-$1270, $1277-$1280 and $1291-$1295. A break above $1260 would suggest an end to the short term down trend, though it would take a break of $1300 to suggest a more significant rally was developing.