Gold stalls recovery from two-week lows near $1545

• Gold recovers the $1540 handle but further upside appears capped.
• US dollar strength, trade deal optimism and strong Chinese data weigh.   
• All eyes remain on the US CPI data for fresh trading impulse.

Having found support once again near $1536 region, Gold (XAU/USD) attempted a tepid recovery over the last hours, only to face rejection just ahead of the 1545 handle.

Gold prices reached two-week lows in Asia after the risk-on sentiment dominated, in light of stronger-than-expected Chinese Trade data and US-China goodwill gestures amid an imminent signing of a preliminary US-China trade deal.

However, the prices managed to recover some ground as the risk-on mood evaporated in the European session, with S&P 500 futures down 0.20% and US Treasury yields seeing some aggressive selling across the curve.

Focus on US CPI for the next direction

The yellow metal, currently, posts small losses, with the upside attempts capped by a pick-up in demand for the US dollar across the board. The love for the US currency appears to have returned amid expectations that the US Consumer Price Index (CPI) will rise to 15-month highs of 2.3% YoY in December vs. +2.1% booked in November.

Gold Technical levels to consider