Gold steady above $1,800 as lower yields counter stronger dollar (with trading strategy)
Global COVID-19 death toll crosses 4 million;Gold prices holding above $1,800 following Fed Minutes.

Gold held steady on Thursday as lower U.S. Treasury yields countered a stronger dollar after minutes from the Federal Reserve’s last meeting showed that the central bank is moving towards tapering its asset purchases as soon as this year.
Spot gold rose 0.24% to $1807.39 per ounce.
Benchmark U.S. 10-year Treasury yields dropped to their lowest since Feb. 19, reducing the opportunity cost of holding non-interest bearing gold.
However, the dollar index traded near the highest in three months versus its rivals, making gold more expensive for other currency holders.
Fed officials last month felt substantial further progress on the U.S. economic recovery “was generally seen as not having yet been met,” but agreed they should be poised to act if inflation or other risks materialized, according to the minutes of the central bank’s June policy meeting.
“Participants observed that economic activity was expanding at a historically rapid pace, led by robust gains in consumer spending. A vast majority of participants revised up their projections for real GDP growth this year compared with the projections they had submitted in March, citing stronger consumer demand and improvements in vaccination rates as the primary reasons for these upgrades,” the minutes said.
The minutes also noted that because of the pace of the recovery, some committee members expected the Federal Reserve would start tightening its monetary policy, reducing their bond-purchase program sooner than expected.
“Various participants mentioned that they expected the conditions for beginning to reduce the pace of asset purchases to be met somewhat earlier than they had anticipated at previous meetings in light of incoming data,” the minutes said.
Katherine Judge, senior economist at CIBC said that the minutes show how divisive the U.S. central bank is when it comes to monetary policy. However, she added that she expects a consensus to grow as the economic recovery progresses.
“The minutes of the June FOMC meeting showed that policymakers viewed the US economy as moving in the right direction, while still being underwhelmed by progress in the labor market,” she said. “We think a continued acceleration in job gains ahead will represent enough of a trend for an announcement of an early 2022 tapering at the September meeting.”
A new rise in coronavirus infections driven by the more virulent delta variant could cause consumers to “pull back” and slow the U.S. recovery, Atlanta Federal Reserve President Raphael Bostic said.
The European Central Bank will on Thursday announce the outcome of an 18-month strategy review, redefining its inflation target and laying down what role it plans to play in the fight against climate change.
SPDR Gold Trust, the world’s largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, said its holdings fell 0.2% to 1,040.48 tons on Wednesday from 1,042.23 tons on Tuesday.
Global COVID-19 death toll crosses 4 million
The global death toll from COVID-19 eclipsed four million Wednesday as the crisis increasingly becomes a race between the vaccine and the highly contagious delta variant.
The tally of lives lost over the past year and a half, as compiled from official sources by Johns Hopkins University, is about equal to the number of people killed in battle in all of the world’s wars since 1982, according to estimates from the Peace Research Institute Oslo.
India’s death toll is at 4,05,028. The death toll in the US remains the highest at 606,000, which accounts for 15 per cent of the global death toll, followed by Brazil’s death toll at 520,000.
Even then, the global toll is widely believed to be an undercount because of overlooked cases or deliberate concealment.
In recent weeks, the mutant delta version of the virus first identified in India has set off alarms around the world, spreading rapidly even in vaccination success stories like the US, Britain and Israel.
WHO has warned, that the highly transmissible delta variant could undermine efforts to contain the pandemic despite vaccination efforts.
At the same time, the disaster has exposed the gap between the haves and the have-nots, with vaccination drives barely getting started in Africa and other desperately poor corners of the world because of extreme shortages of shots. Indonesia continues to struggle to contain surging outbreaks—authorities are scrambling to get sufficient vaccine doses for its population.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Thursday said, "Vaccines offer a ray of hope -- but most of the world is still in the shadows. The virus is outpacing vaccine distribution." Guterres calling for a global plan to boost vaccine production.
"To realize this plan, I am calling for an Emergency Task Force that brings together all the countries with vaccine production capacities, the World Health Organization, the global vaccine alliance GAVI and international financial institutions able to deal with the relevant pharmaceutical companies and manufacturers, and other key stakeholders," he said.
The variants, uneven access to vaccines and the relaxation of precautions in wealthier countries are “a toxic combination that is very dangerous,” warned Ann Lindstrand, a top immunization official at the World Health Organization.
Trading strategy (Source: Trading Central)
Pivot: 1805.00
Our preference: short positions below 1805.00 with targets at 1790.00 & 1784.00 in extension.
Alternative scenario: above 1805.00 look for further upside with 1810.00 & 1815.00 as targets.
Comment: the RSI advocates for further decline.
Supports and resistances:
1815.00
1810.00
1805.00
1796.50 Last
1790.00
1784.00
1776.00
Guideline for Trading Central strategy
Trend chart reading guideline
1. First look at the time period in the upper left corner of the chart:
‧30MIN and 1H chart shows the trading suggestions for intraday
‧Daily chart shows the market trend analysis in next 2-3 days
2. The blue horizontal line on the chart marks the pivot: pivot indicates the reversal of the market. When the price is above the pivot, it indicates an upward trend, when the price is below the pivot , it indicates a downward trend. When the price breaks through the pivot, the trend is reversed.
3. The red and blue thin curves in the Candlestick chart chart are technical indicators: Red line is MA20+Bollinger bands, Blue line is MA50. under the Candlestick chart chart are also the technical indicators: Blue line is RSI, Red line is 9MA;
4. The green horizontal line is the resistance level for a price increase, and is also the profit target for long orders; the red horizontal line is the support level for a price decrease, and is also the profit target for short orders.
How to use TC strategy?
1.[Pivot] is the reversal line of the market trend. When the price up the pivot line which means in Bullish, you can open a long position or Buy. on the contrary, when the price under pivot line which means in bearish. You ‘d better make short positions or Sell.
2. [our preference] is the main trading suggestion for your reference. You can exit your trading refer to this target or close positions before it.
3. [Alternative scenario] is the plan B for your reference.
4. [Comment] is the technical analysis of market trends and technical support for trading strategies.
5. [Supports and resistance] Supports are levels where the price tend to find support as it falls.
Resistances are levels where the price tend to find resistance as it rises. So, exit before the trend reverse.
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