Gold price (XAU/USD) trades with a mild negative bias for the second straight day on Thursday, albeit it lacks follow-through selling and remains confined in a familiar range held since the beginning of the current week. This week’s US macro data pointed to a still resilient labor market and tempered market expectations for a more aggressive policy easing by the Federal Reserve (Fed). This, in turn, lifts the US Dollar (USD) to a three-week high and turns out to be a key factor undermining demand for the non-yielding yellow metal.The downside for the Gold price, however, remains limited in the wake of a further escalation of conflicts in the Middle East. Iran launched over 200 ballistic missiles at Israel on Tuesday, while the latter conducted a precise air strike and bombed central Beirut in Lebanon during the early hours of Thursday. This raises the risk of a full-blown war in the region and acts as a tailwind for the safe-haven precious metal. Traders now look to Thursday’s US economic docket for a fresh impetus ahead of the Nonfarm Payrolls (NF) report on Friday.
Daily Digest Market Movers: Gold price is undermined by the ongoing USD recovery, downside seems cushioned
Technical Outlook: Gold price dip-buying should help the downside near the $2,625-2,624 pivotal support
From a technical perspective, the range-bound price action since the beginning of this week comes on the back of the recent strong rally to a record high and might still be categorized as a bullish consolidation phase. Moreover, oscillators on the daily chart are holding comfortably in positive territory and have also eased from the overbought zone. This, in turn, favors bullish traders and suggests that the path of least resistance for the Gold price remains to the upside. Meanwhile, the $2,672-$2,673 area might continue to offer immediate resistance ahead of the $2,685-2,686 zone, or the all-time peak touched last week. This is closely followed by the $2,700 mark, which if conquered will be seen as a fresh trigger for bulls and set the stage for an extension of a well-established multi-month-old uptrend.On the flip side, the weekly low, around the $2,625-2,624 area, which coincides with a short-term ascending channel resistance breakpoint, might continue to offer support and act as a key pivotal point. A convincing break below might prompt aggressive technical selling and drag the Gold price below the $2,600 mark, towards the next relevant support near the $2,560 zone. The corrective decline could extend further towards the $2,535-2,530 support before the XAU/USD eventually drops to the $2,500 psychological mark.
US Dollar PRICE Today
The table below shows the percentage change of US Dollar (USD) against listed major currencies today. US Dollar was the strongest against the New Zealand Dollar.
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