Gold down $12 to $1238

Rising speculation about hawkish signals from the Fed are undermining gold prices and threatening a double bottom at $1237.

Gold is at the lows of the day on selling that got underway as New York trading began. A broad US dollar bid is weighing on the precious metal. It's an abrupt reversal from the one-year high touched on Friday.

I don't see the case for buying gold at the moment. The BOJ won't ease today and the Fed will be somewhat hawkish, at the very least. The ECB hullabaloo is fading and now the technicals strained.

A break of the nearby support along with a hawkish Fed could quickly send prices down to $1200 or below.