With US 10-year real rates pushing higher into 1.90% and rate cut expectations being priced out of the US interest rate and swap curve, and with the USD breaking out, gold longs should be enthused by the yellow metals inability to roll over and head into $2000. The ability to absorb several traditional negative catalysts suggests there are big counterweights in place, such as foreign central bank buying – but as we see on the daily gold is tracking a sideways range with volatility compression a core theme. The longer we see the volatility squeeze, the more powerful the potential trend could be. For now, playing a range of $2060 to $2005 seems the play.