|

Gold Price Forecast: XAU/USD turns cautious again ahead of US inflation test

  • Gold price reverses the rebound from weekly lows early Friday as US PCE inflation data awaited.   
  • The US Dollar swings higher after US courts’ drama on Trump’s tariffs, likely US-Japan trade talks.  
  • Gold price defends critical support line, remains exposed to two-way risks on tariff headlines and US PCE data.

Gold price is back in the red early Friday, giving up a part of the previous rebound from weekly lows near $3,245. The fate of Gold price now hinges on the US core Personal Consumption Expenditure (PCE) Price Index and tariff headlines.

Gold price dips after Thursday’s two-way businesses  

The US Dollar (USD) danced to the tunes of the American courts‘ rulings on President Donald Trump’s "Liberation Day" tariffs.

On Wednesday, a US Court of International Trade (UCIT) blocked Trump's "Liberation Day" tariffs from going into effect, which bolstered the USD recovery at the expense of the Gold price.

The sentiment around the Greenback was also underpinned by intense risk flows as markets cheered tariff ruling and the encouraging earnings report from the American artificial intelligence (AI) pioneer Nvidia.

However, Gold buyers jumped in during the American session as the US Dollar came under heavy selling pressure after the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington said it was pausing the lower court's ruling to consider the government's appeal, and ordered the plaintiffs in the cases to respond by June 5 and the administration by June 9, per Reuters.

Additionally, White House Advisor Peter Navarro’s comments also exacerbated the USD’s pain, aiding the Gold price upswing. Responding to the UCIT’s ruling, Navarro said, “you can assume even if we lose tariff cases we'll do it another way.”

Thursday’s disappointing Jobless Claims and Pending Home Sales further contributed to the Greenback’s steep decline.

Tariff and trade headlines continue to dominate risk sentiment and the USD price action this Friday, with the Greenback attempting to recover the early dip spurred by a Wall Street Journal (WSJ) report.

Citing people familiar with the matter, the WSJ reported late Thursday that “US President Donald Trump's administration is considering an existing law that includes language allowing for tariffs of up to 15% for 150 days.”

The renewed US Dollar uptick snaps the Gold price rebound heading into the US PCE inflation test. The Fed’s preferred inflation measure, the annual core Personal Consumption Expenditure (PCE) Price Index, is set to rise 2.5% in April after reporting a 2.6% growth in March.

A bigger-than-expected cooldown in the inflation data could pour cold water on the Fed’s recent hawkish stance and likely trigger a fresh pullback in the USD, allowing Gold price to resume the recovery from weekly troughs.

In the meantime, Gold traders will remain cautious and refrain from placing fresh positions in the bright metal, bracing for some volatility on the PCE data release.

Gold price technical analysis: Daily chart

Gold price managed to recapture the critical 21-day Simple Moving Average (SMA) on a daily candlestick closing basis, now at $3,292.

The 38.2% Fibonacci Retracement (Fibo) level of the April record rally aligns near that level.

Meanwhile, the 14-day Relative Strength Index (RSI) also moved back above the midline, currently near 52.28, reviving the bullish bias in the near term.

As it is positioned ahead of the US inflation data, Gold price remains exposed to two-way risks.

If the midline flips bearish alongside a weekly closing below the abovementioned strong support area, Gold sellers could accelerate declines toward the 50% Fibo level near $3,230, where the 50-day SMA closes in.

  A daily candlestick closing below that level could put the focus back on the 61.8% Fibo support at $3,168, from where Gold price rebounded to two-week highs of $3,366 last week.

On the other hand, if Gold price holds the 21-day SMA at $3,292 yet again on a sustained basis, the rebound could target the previous day’s high of $3,33, followed by the $3,350 psychological level.

Economic Indicator

Core Personal Consumption Expenditures - Price Index (YoY)

The Core Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE), released by the US Bureau of Economic Analysis on a monthly basis, measures the changes in the prices of goods and services purchased by consumers in the United States (US). The PCE Price Index is also the Federal Reserve’s (Fed) preferred gauge of inflation. The YoY reading compares the prices of goods in the reference month to the same month a year earlier. The core reading excludes the so-called more volatile food and energy components to give a more accurate measurement of price pressures." Generally, a high reading is bullish for the US Dollar (USD), while a low reading is bearish.

Read more.

Next release: Fri May 30, 2025 12:30

Frequency: Monthly

Consensus: 2.5%

Previous: 2.6%

Source: US Bureau of Economic Analysis

After publishing the GDP report, the US Bureau of Economic Analysis releases the Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) Price Index data alongside the monthly changes in Personal Spending and Personal Income. FOMC policymakers use the annual Core PCE Price Index, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, as their primary gauge of inflation. A stronger-than-expected reading could help the USD outperform its rivals as it would hint at a possible hawkish shift in the Fed’s forward guidance and vice versa.

Author

Dhwani Mehta

Dhwani Mehta

FXStreet

Residing in Mumbai (India), Dhwani is a Senior Analyst and Manager of the Asian session at FXStreet. She has over 10 years of experience in analyzing and covering the global financial markets, with specialization in Forex and commodities markets.

More from Dhwani Mehta
Share:

Editor's Picks

AUD/USD shows resilience below 38.2% Fibo. near mid-0.7100s

The AUD/USD pair touches a one-and-a-half-week low, around the 0.7140 region during the Asian session on Monday, though it lacks follow-through. Spot prices currently trade just above mid-0.7100s, down nearly 0.25% for the day.


USD/JPY: Japanese Yen edges lower vs USD amid Middle East jitters as Fed, BoJ meetings loom

The USD/JPY pair attracts some buyers at the start of a new week and climbs closer to the 154.00 mark during the Asian session, reversing a part of Friday's losses. Spot prices, however, remain confined in a range held over the past week or so and within striking distance of a nearly seven-month low, touched last Tuesday, as traders await this week's key central bank events.


Gold: Fed’s rate decision to drive the next move
Gold reflects a subdued performance at the start of the Federal Reserve’s (Fed) monetary policy week at around $4,330. Fed’s interest rate expectations heavily influenced last week after the release of the hot United States (US) Producer Price Index (PPI) and Consumer Price Index (CPI) reports for August.
Pi Network extends gains as ecosystem development supports recovery

Pi Network (PI) extends its recovery on Monday, trading above $0.097 after two consecutive weeks of gains. Continued ecosystem development and improved developer tools are boosting utility. Meanwhile, the technical indicators point to a tentative recovery, but overhead Exponential Moving Averages remain a challenge and cap PI gains.

US Dollar Weekly Forecast: The last line of defense

There was no respite to the downward trend for the US Dollar this week, which added to the prior week’s retracement and at some point flirted with the area of four-month lows. Indeed, after trading at levels just shy of its psychological 100.00 barrier early in the month, the US Dollar Index has come all the way down to challenge the 98.50 zone, extending its negative streak for the third month in a row.

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.