Powell + Terrifying Data, Beware of a Critical Hit

On Thursday, gold prices fell for the second consecutive day, dropping below $3,150 to a more than one-month low during the Asian session. The easing trade tensions have reduced market expectations for aggressive easing policies from the Federal Reserve, with traders lowering their expectations for interest rate cuts this year to just over 50 basis points, pushing the 10-year U.S. Treasury yield to a one-month high. After the U.S. releases retail sales and PPI data at 20:30, Federal Reserve Chairman Powell will speak at 20:40, with the meeting focusing on assessing the monetary policy framework, which may involve improvements to the symmetry of the inflation target and the economic forecast summary. Trump previously criticized Powell for calling for interest rate cuts. The technical outlook shows that gold has broken through a key support level and may test $3,135, with resistance at $3,168-$3,170; if the dollar cannot recover to 101.30, it may fall to 99.40. Powell's speech may maintain the policy stance, reinforcing a hawkish attitude that could further pressure gold.