Today’s modest price increase has had little effect on the weekly tally. As of 3:30 PM Eastern standard time, gold futures (August 2018 Comex contract) are trading $1.80 higher on the day, and currently fixed at $1252.80. Considering gold opened on Monday at approximately $1,272 per ounce, this week’s activity resulted in a decline of $20.

or not gold is currently oversold; rather it is all about whether or not the U.S. dollar is overbought. The current selloff in gold, which began immediately following prices reaching the 2018 apex at $1,370 ounce, has been driven first and foremost by dollar strength. It is the dollar leading gold prices and not the other way around.

The U.S. dollar index scored a tremendous gain, breaking above resistance and closing at the highest price point of 2018. Gaining almost ¾ of a percent on the day, the dollar gained 0.679 points and closed at 95.025.

Gold futures continues to trade under pressure, and as of 3:15 PM Eastern standard time is currently trading down $8.50 at $1,260.40. Today’s lower pricing is a combination, a one-two punch, of sellers and strong U.S. dollar.

Gold futures closed down $3.10 today, with the August Comex contract currently fixed at $1,267.60. This three-dollar decline completed a pattern that we identified last week called a "death cross". A "death cross" is created when the shorter-term moving average crosses below the longer-term moving average.

Although gold closed modestly higher on the day, the precious yellow metal scored its second consecutive week of lower pricing. Gold futures opened on Monday at $1,281 per ounce and traded to a high of $1,286. However, it was the weekly low of $1,263 that fostered the most profound concern.

Now for the fifth trading day in a row, we have seen gold trade and close lower on the day. It began with Friday's dramatic plunge when gold opened at $1,305 and closed $26 lower at $1,279. From that point forward, each day gold closed below the prior low creating a new all-time low for 2018.

A combination of an active U.S. equities markets, coupled with a firm dollar, has kept gold pricing under pressure. Today the NASDAQ index has traded to a new all-time high. As the trading day comes to close, the tech-heavy index is currently up about ¾% and trading at 7,780.92.

Gold is genuinely acting differently than other precious metals, as well as the commodity sector, although at first glance it's challenging to see. It is dollar strength that has been the predominant factor regulating and tapering any real upside moves in gold which continues to trade lower, now at its lowest price point this year.

There is no doubt that gold traders and investors are still pondering the reasons for Friday's dramatic $25 decline. In fact, gold's pricing through the end of last week contained several interesting nuances that are typically not seen.