Open interest in gold futures markets shrank by almost 1K contracts after three consecutive daily pullbacks on Tuesday, according to preliminary readings from CME Group. Volume, instead, remained choppy and went up by around 123.5K contracts.

Gold: A drop to the 200-day SMA is not ruled out

Gold prices extended the pessimism in the first half of the week, breaking below the $1960 level amidst shrinking open interest on Tuesday. That said, a deeper pullback appears to be losing momentum in the very near term, although the sharp increase in volume suggests that a probable decline to the 200-day SMA around $1935 per troy ounce should not be ruled out for the time being.