Gold Price Forecast: XAU/USD reaches fresh record highs above $2,460

Valeria Bednarik FXStreet

XAU/USD Current price: $2,459.10

Market participants increased bets on a Federal Reserve’s September rate cut.
Encouraging United States macroeconomic data backed the generalized optimism.
XAU/USD bullish momentum supports another leg north in the upcoming sessions.

Gold reached fresh all-time highs on Tuesday, trading in the $2,460 price zone mid-American afternoon. The bright metal rallied despite a firmer US Dollar, the latter benefiting from better-than-anticipated United States (US) Retail Sales. The US Census Bureau reported that Retail Sales remained unchanged in June as expected, although the core reading, Retail Sales Control Group, improved to 0.9% from 0.4% in May.

Still, XAU/USD rally could be explained by mounting speculation the Federal Reserve (Fed) will deliver an interest rate cut as soon as September. According to the CME FedWatch Tool, the odds for a 25 basis points (bps) rate cut stand at 93.3%, while the chance of a 50 bps cut stands at 6.7%. Investors rushed into betting on upcoming lower interest rates after Fed Chairman Jerome Powell spoke at the Economic Club of Washington DC on Monday.

Among other things, Powell said that the economy performed remarkably well in the last couple of years, while easing inflation in the second quarter builded up confidence. Nevertheless he also noted that upcoming decisions will be made meeting-by-meeting, based on evolving data and the outlook.

Wall Street rallied to fresh record highs on Monday, only to surpass them in the current session. Optimism reigns among investors and the US Dollar trades oddly mixed across the FX board, partially benefiting from upbeat macroeconomic data, yet with the upside limited amid the risk-on mood.

XAU/USD short-term technical outlook

The bright metal has room to extend its gains according to technical readings in the daily chart. XAU/USD holds far above all its moving averages, which offer sharp upward slopes. At the same time, technical indicators accelerated north, approaching overbought territory without signs of giving up.

In the near term, and according to the 4-hour chart, XAU/USD is overbought, yet a corrective decline remains out of the picture. A firmly bullish 20 Simple Moving Average (SMA) leads the way north, providing dynamic support at around $2,420. The 100 and 200 SMA also head higher below the shorter one, in line with increased buying interest. Finally, the Momentum indicator maintains its bullish slope at extreme levels, but the Relative Strength Index (RSI) indicator turned flat at around 76, suggesting a pause before the next directional movement.

Support levels: 2,448.90 2,435.10 2,422.65

Resistance levels: 2,465.00 2,480.00 2,493.00

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.

GBP/USD off highs, back to 1.3620

GBP/USD remains slightly on the defensive at the end of the week, receding to the low 1.3600s after hitting fresh tops past 1.3670 earlier in the day. Cable’s correction comes after two daily gains in a row and amid a tepid advance in the Greenback, while poor UK data also accompany the downside.

EUR/USD treads water below 1.1700

EUR/USD now trades with modest losses around 1.1670 following another unsuccessful atempt to advance past 1.1700 the figure in a convincing fashion. The pair’s decline follows a maginal rebound in the US Dollar as market participants continue to assess recent US data as well as developments from the US bond market.

Gold trims gains, recedes to the sub-$4,600 area

Gold rapidly leaves behind Thursday’s inconclusive price action and advances markedly on Friday, briefly surpassing the $4,600 mark per troy ounce to hit three-month peaks. Meanwhile, the precious metal’s solid performance comes despite marginal gains in the buck coupled with another day of rising US Treasury yields across the curve.

Crypto Today: Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP bulls accelerate rally amid rising ETF inflows

The cryptocurrency market remains bullish on Friday, led by Bitcoin’s surge above $77,000. Altcoins, including Ethereum and Ripple, mirror BTC’s positive outlook, trading near $2,400 and $1.35, respectively.

Week ahead – Fed’s Jackson Hole and Nvidia earnings to dictate markets

Kevin Warsh to make his Jackson Hole debut amid confusing messaging. But a major hawkish surprise unlikely after bond market intervention. Nvidia earnings to also determine market direction as stock rally cools.

$20 billion offered, $2 billion taken: Why Treasury doubled its buyback cap

The US Treasury moved off its own calendar on Wednesday, and that is the part worth sitting with. At 12:32 GMT, the department said it would at least double the size of liquidity support buyback operations in the 10-year to 20-year and 20-year to 30-year sectors, lifting the maximum from $2 billion per operation to at least $4 billion, effective September 9 and running to November 4.