Gold Price Forecast: XAU/USD pressures intraday lows amid a better mood

XAU/USD Current price: $3,348.48

• Trump announced another round of trade talks with China, sentiment improves.
• The European Central Bank delivered a hawkish cut, further lifting the mood.
• XAU/USD sheds over $50 from its early high, yet bulls still hold the grip.

Spot Gold eased from its recent high at $3,403.55 and trades near its daily lows in the $3,340 region at the time of writing. The XAU/USD pair eased in the mid-European session following the European Central Bank (ECB) monetary policy decision. The central bank trimmed interest rates as widely anticipated, yet the odds for additional rate cuts dropped sharply after President Christine Lagarde said that policymakers had nearly concluded a monetary policy cycle and sounded pretty optimistic about the economic future.

Optimism further undermined demand for the bright metal after United States (US) President Donald Trump stated that he had a "very good phone call" with Chinese President Xi Jinping, while announcing another round of talks coming soon. At the same time, Trump said the US will have a great relationship with Germany while speaking with Chancellor Friedrich Merz.

Market players seem quite optimistic ahead of the US Nonfarm Payrolls report, scheduled for Friday. The country is expected to have added 130K new job positions in May, while the Unemployment Rate is foreseen steady at 4.2%.

XAU/USD short-term technical outlook

From a technical point of view, the daily chart for the XAU/USD pair shows it holds on to familiar levels, albeit pressuring the lower end of its latest range. Still, the technical picture has not changed from the previous updates, with the risk skewed to the upside. On the one hand, technical indicators remain well above their midlines, lacking directional strength. On the other hand, the pair keeps developing above all its moving averages, with a flat 20 Simple Moving Average (SMA) providing support at around $3,295.40. while the longer ones keep grinding north, far below the shorter one.

The 4-hour chart shows XAU/USD develops below a now flat 20 SMA, while still far above directionless 100 and 200 SMAs. Technical indicators, in the meantime, turned south, yet remain within neutral levels, not enough to anticipate a steeper slide ahead.

Support levels: 3,339.50 3,325.60 3,316.90

Resistance levels: 3,367.10 3,382.60 3,394.05