Gold Price Forecast: XAU/USD buyers losing the battle around $2,000

XAU/USD Current price: $1,998.69

• Mixed United States macroeconomic figures weighed on the US Dollar.
• US Treasury yields trimmed early losses and look poised to resume their advance.
• XAU/USD is losing its positive momentum and struggles to retain the $2,000 mark.

Gold price is up on Thursday, peaking intraday at $2,008.30 as the US Dollar came under selling pressure ahead of Wall Street’s opening and following the release of mixed United States (US) figures. XAU/USD, however, lost momentum as the session went by and now struggles to retain the $2,000 mark.

The country reported that Retail Sales were down 0.8% MoM in January, much worse than the 0.1% decline anticipated. Furthermore, Initial Jobless Claims for the week ended February 9 rose 212K, better than the 220K expected but still reflecting labor market tightness. On a positive note, the NY Empire State Manufacturing Index improved to -2.4 in February from -43.7 in the previous month, while the Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Survey improved to 5.2 from -10.6 in January in the same period.

The news pushed government bond yields further down, as yields eased ever since the day started. At the time being, however, the 10-year Treasury notes offer 4.25%, recovering from an intraday low of 4.187% and still down on the day. The US Dollar recovers alongside rising yields, still trading in negative territory against most major rivals.

XAU/USD short-term technical outlook

From a technical point of view, XAU/USD holds on to intraday gains but lacks enough momentum to extend gains. In the daily chart, the pair met intraday buyers on a test of a mildly bullish 100 Simple Moving Average (SMA) trading above it after briefly piercing it on Wednesday. The moving averages will continue to provide dynamic support, currently at around $1,990. At the same time, technical indicators ticked north but remain within negative levels, suggesting tepid buying interest.

The 4-hour chart suggests the pair may ease from the current price zone. The pair peaked beyond a bearish 20 SMA, but selling interest pushed XAU/USD back below the level. At the same time, the 100 and 200 SMAs offer firmly bearish slopes well above the shorter one, in line with the bearish case. Finally, technical indicators have resumed their declines within negative levels after correcting oversold conditions.

Support levels: 1,990.00 1,976.50 1,962.70  

Resistance levels: 2,009.20 2,018.50 2,032.10