Golds Holds Despite Headwinds

SPDR Gold Shares (GLD) definitely has some headwinds today, not the least of which is Fed Chairman Bernanke "warning" us that some creativity applied to avoiding the fiscal cliff could make 2013 a good one for the US economy.

Should such a scenario unfold, interest rates could up-tick, perhaps significantly, which usually has negative implications for gold prices.

In addition, Israel and Hamas apparently are moving closer to a cease fire to avert the introduction of Israeli ground forces into Gaza.

The prospect of a cessation of rocket fire and bombardment is putting downward pressure on oil prices, which likely is spilling over into the gold market.

Be that as it may, purely from a technical perspective, today's weakness has not inflicted any damage to the near-term technical set-up.

Only a decline that breaks $1714.00 will begin to compromise the current still-constructive pattern off of the Nov 5 low $1672.50.

Key near-term resistance hovers above the market between $1735 and $1740, which, if hurdled, should trigger upside continuation to $1760/65 next.