Gold under pressure for second straight session, slips below $1200 mark

Gold remained under some selling pressure for the second straight session on Thursday and is currently flirting with $1200 psychological mark.

On Wednesday, the Fed Chair Janet Yellen said that the central bank would gradually raise interest rates. This coupled with upbeat US CPI print reinforced expectations of steeper Fed rate-tightening cycle, driving the US treasury bond yields higher across the board and eventually denting demand for the non-yielding yellow metal. 

Reviving hopes of additional Fed rate-hike actions in 2017 also extended support to the US Dollar's recovery trend and also drove flows away from dollar-denominated commodities - like gold. 

Investors now look forward to Trump's inauguration on Friday, which would be looked upon for more clarity on his fiscal policies and would enable investors to determine a pronounced medium-term direction for the commodity.

Technical levels to watch

A follow through retracement below $1195 immediate support is likely to accelerate the slide towards 50-day SMA important support near $1180 region, with some intermediate support near $1191-90 area.

On the upside, $1203-05 region now becomes immediate resistance above which the commodity is likely to aim back towards nearly two-month high resistance near $1217-18 region. A convincing move above multi-month high would pave way for continuation of the metal's near-term recovery trend further towards its next resistance near $1230 level.