Gold Price Forecast: Sellers happily adding on spikes amid a lack of clear direction

Valeria Bednarik FXStreet

XAU/USD Current price: $1,784.03

Gold trades at the lower end of its daily range despite a dismal market’s mood.
Mixed news about the Omicron coronavirus variant weighed on sentiment.
XAU/USD is technically neutral, but the risk is skewed to the downside.

Gold trades lower in range, with the bright metal currently at around $1,781 a troy ounce. Trading has been choppy throughout the day as investors struggle to digest coronavirus developments. France and Germany had announced restrictive measures, while social distance may return to the UK, amid an escalation of contagions in Europe. On the other hand, Pfizer said that a booster jab of its coronavirus vaccine is effective against the Omicron variant. Early studies suggest that those that got covid plus two shots or those getting the third dose are highly protected against the heavily mutated strain.

XAU/USD retreated after peaking at 1,793.08, with the greenback trading without rhyme or reason, while US government bond yields kept advancing to fresh weekly highs. For the time being, the yield on the 10-year Treasury note stands at 1.52% after hitting a daily high of 1.532%. Meanwhile, global indexes trade with a sour tone, most of them in the red.

Gold price short-term technical outlook

XAU/USD keeps showing no progress. On the daily chart, gold prices peaked at converging 100 and 200 SMAs, both flat. Meanwhile, the 20 SMA accelerated its slide below the longer ones, while technical indicators hold directionless within negative levels.

The near-term picture is also neutral, given that the precious metal is hovering around a mildly bullish 20 SMA in its 4-hour chart, while technical indicators lost directional strength, now stuck around their midlines.

Support levels: 1,772.05 1,758.80 1,745.20

Resistance levels: 1,793.00 1,803.85 1,810.65

View Live Chart for the XAU/USD

Author

Valeria Bednarik

FXStreet

Valeria Bednarik was born and lives in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Her passion for math and numbers pushed her into studying economics in her younger years.

AUD/USD struggles near 0.7150 as Fed hike bets and Middle East risks underpin USD

AUD/USD kicks off the new week on a weak note and hovers near Friday's low, around mid-0.7100s, as the US Dollar holds up on rising Fed rate-hike bets, bolstered by the US CPI. Furthermore, escalating Middle East tensions and clashes in the Strait of Hormuz underpin the safe-haven USD. However, hawkish RBA expectations could help limit deeper losses for the Aussie.

USD/JPY holds steady near mid-153.00s as traders await Fed/BoJ rate decisions

USD/JPY consolidates near a seven-month low touched last Tuesday as traders move to the sidelines ahead of the FOMC decision on Wednesday and the BoJ policy update on Friday. Meanwhile, a more hawkish repricing of the BoJ's normalization path supports the Japanese Yen, while rising Fed rate-hike bets and geopolitical risks underpin the US Dollar, leading to the pair's subdued price action at the start of the new week.

Gold: Fed’s rate decision to drive the next move

Gold reflects a subdued performance at the start of the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy week at around $4,330. Fed’s interest rate expectations heavily influenced last week after the release of the hot United States Producer Price Index and Consumer Price Index reports for August.

Bitcoin consolidates, Ethereum faces hurdle, XRP nears key support

Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH) and Ripple (XRP) start the week near crucial technical levels after a broadly bearish performance, correcting over 4%, 1.5% and 5% last week. BTC consolidates around $77,600, while ETH approaches key $2,550 resistance. Meanwhile, XRP trades near its key level around $1.354, making this support level crucial for its near-term outlook.

CFTC Report: Japanese Yen reversal leads a broader positioning reset

The week in one sentence: Yen positioning swung back into net longs in the week to September 8, leading to a 103.0K-contract improvement. Canadian Dollar shorts also fell sharply, while Oil buying accompanied another price rise. Euro, Sterling and Swiss Franc positioning weakened despite firmer currencies, leaving those moves unconfirmed by speculative flows.

Venezuela’s 65-billion-barrel Oil deal could reshape America’s inflation fight

The United States (US) has secured unprecedented access to part of Venezuela’s vast Oil reserves. The timing is particularly significant as the war with Iran is disrupting Middle Eastern supplies, keeping energy prices elevated and reviving concerns about inflation.