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Gold Price Forecast: XAU/USD under pressure and aiming for $1,900

XAU/USD Current price: $1,934.47

  • Wall Street shrugged off its counterparts' negative tone, posting substantial gains.
  • Investors await the release of the United States Consumer Price Index.
  • XAU/USD has room to extend its decline in the upcoming sessions.

XAU/USD trimmed Friday's gains as the US Dollar picked up, with the pair trading at around $1,933 a troy ounce after London's close. The new week saw concerns about continued Federal Reserve (Fed) 's tightening picking up, resulting in financial markets turning risk-averse. Generally speaking, the USD rally paused ahead of Wall Street's opening as Fed's New York President John C. Williams cooled down early concerns. Despite affirming the economy still needs to balance and noting the strength of the labor market, Williams was mostly optimistic, adding that any additional movement, either a rate hike or a cut, will depend on data.

Following the poor performance of its Asian and European counterparts, Wall Street is up, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) up roughly 350 points, maintaining the pressure on the bright metal.

This week, the focus will be on inflation, as the United States (US) will publish the July Consumer Price Index (CPI). The index is foreseen at 3.3% YoY, while the core annual reading is expected at 4.7% declining slightly from the previous 4.8%. In the month, inflation is expected to have increased by 0.2%. Should the figures come below expected, the market mood can improve to the point of putting the USD into sell-off mode.

XAU/USD price short-term technical outlook

The XAU/USD pair trades around a Fibonacci level, the 61.8% retracement of the $1,902.62/$1,987.40 rally. Technical readings in the daily chart indicate that the risk skews to the downside as indicators accelerated their slides within negative levels, reaching fresh one-month lows. At the same time, the pair stands below its 20 and 100 Simple Moving Averages (SMAs), which lack directional strength.

The 4-hour chart offers a neutral-to-bearish stance as XAU/USD develops below all its moving averages, with the 20 SMA providing intraday resistance. Finally, technical indicators are directionless. The Momentum indicator heads nowhere around its 100 line, while the Relative Strength Index (RSI) indicator hovers around 40.

Support levels: 1,922.95 1,911.80 1,898.10

Resistance levels: 1,944.95 1,954.70 1,966.90  

View Live Chart for XAU/USD  

Author

Valeria Bednarik

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.

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