Gold extends slide toward critical $1300 on broad USD strength

• US Dollar Index pushes higher despite mixed data.
• 10-year US T-bond yield adds more than 1% on Friday.
• Wall Street stays in the positive territory.

After losing a total of $15 in the last two days, the troy ounce of precious metal continued to weaken on Friday. As of writing, the XAU/USD pair was trading at its lowest level since late January near $1303, erasing nearly $10, or 0.7%, on a daily basis.

Similar to what we have seen on Thursday and Wednesday, a strong upsurge witnessed in the U.S. Treasury bond yields weighed on safe-havens and made it difficult for gold to find demand. At the moment, the 10-year reference is at its highest level in more than a month at 2.74% and is adding 1.02% on the day. Additionally, major equity indexes in the U.S. continue to float in the positive territory despite pulling back from session highs, reaffirming the risk-on mood.

Just recently, White House advisor Kudlow said that 'tremendous progress' was made on trade talks with China and added that President Trump and his counterpart Xi could sing a deal at Mar-a-lago to provide an added boost to the sentiment.

Meanwhile, supported by bond yields, the greenback largely ignored today's data and gathered strength to keep the bearish pressure intact. The U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis today reported that the core PCE price index stayed unchanged at 1.9% on a yearly basis in December to match experts' forecasts. On the other hand, the Manufacturing PMI published by the ISM and the IHS Markit both fell short of the market expectations. 

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