Gold Price Forecast: XAU/USD bulls pause on the way to $1,877 amid mixed clues

• Gold bulls stampede towards critical resistance on the heightened risk of a Russian invasion of Ukraine. 
• US Federal Reserve will aggressively hike rates in coming months. 

Update: Gold (XAU/USD) seesaws around three-month high, taking rounds to $1,870 as traders seek fresh clues amid a sluggish Asian session on Tuesday.

The yellow metal refreshed multi-day top the previous day on the market’s rush for risk-safety amid geopolitical fears, as well as escalating chatters over hawkish Fed actions in March.

However, headlines concerning US-China trade tension seem to have lured the traders off from the recent key risk catalysts, namely the Russia-Ukraine invasion and Fedspeak.

While portraying the mood, the US Treasury yields pare the previous day’s gains whereas the stock futures and Asia-Pacific equities trade mixed of late.

Moving on, US Producer Price Index (PPI) for January and Empire State Manufacturing Index for February will decorate the calendar but major attention will be given to the risk catalysts mentioned above for clear direction.

End of update.

The price of gold rallied to the highest level since November 16 on Monday on growing worries about Russia-Ukraine tensions despite the call from St. Louis Federal Reserve President James Bullard for faster US Federal Reserve interest rate hikes. XAU/USD reached $1,874 on Monday in afternoon trading in the New York session, extending its gains from last week's close. 

The markets are on high alert as the tensions surrounding the Russian military build up on the border of Ukraine is raising the probabilities of an imminent attack. Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy urged Ukrainians to fly the country's flags from buildings and sing the national anthem in unison on Feb. 16, a date some Western media have cited as the possible start of a Russian invasion.

However, the comments were interpreted as if the president of Ukraine had been officially informed that Wednesday would be the day of the attack. This led to a bout of risk-off in markets but Ukrainian officials said Zelenskiy was not predicting an attack on that date, but instead responding with scepticism to foreign media reports. Washington had said Russia could invade Ukraine "any day now," and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Monday called the situation "very, very dangerous." 

Meanwhile, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he was deeply worried about "increased speculation" about a military conflict and has urged world leaders to step up diplomacy to calm the situation.

Gold technical analysis

As per the pre-open forecast for the week ahead, Gold, The Chart of the Week: $1,880's are eyed as last defence for continued upside, the $1,880's are calling the bulls as follows:

Gold, daily chart, prior analysis

Gold, live market

Typically, the price would be expected to correct at this juncture, but the ATR on the weekly chart is around $46.00 and it is early days in the week still. Gold has rallied $23.00 so far, so there is still room for higher.