Gold pushes lower below $1300 to fresh multi-week lows

After making a daily close below the critical $1300 handle on Wednesday, the XAU/USD pair extended its losses on Thursday and touched its lowest level since August 25 at $1288. As of writing, the pair was trading at $1290, losing 0.9%, or nearly $11, on the day.

Today's upbeat data from the U.S. failed to provide an additional boost to the greenback, which recorded substantial gains against its competitors on Wednesday after the FOMC's September meeting decisions and the updated economic projections ramped up the expectations for one more rate hike before the end of 2017. According to the data released by the US Department of Labor, weekly initial jobless claims decreased to 259K from 282K for the week ending September 16. Moreover, Philly Fed Manufacturing Index improved to 23.8 from 18.9, surpassing the market estimate of 17.2. At the moment, the US Dollar Index is at 92.15, losing 0.08% on the day.

• US: Weekly initial claims was 259,000, a decrease of 23,000 from previous week
• Philly Fed: Index for current manufacturing activity in the region increased 5 points to 23.8

Nevertheless, the pair is having a difficult time correcting its losses despite the greenback's modest weakness. The fact that the pair remains below the $1300 mark could be creating a technical selling pressure. Furthermore, the market sentiment seems relatively positive with the Dow Jones refreshing its record high and the S&P 500 staying little changed, not allowing the demand for the traditional safe-havens rise.

Technical outlook

The CCI indicator on the daily graph remains below the -100 mark, suggesting that the bearish momentum is likely to persist. $1276 (Aug. 25 low) could be the first technical support on the downside ahead of $1267 (Aug. 15 low) and $1258 (200-DMA). On the upside, $1300 (psychological level) is the initial hurdle followed by $1315 (Sep. 20 high) and $1325 (20-DMA).