Gold moves closer to Thursday’s 1-week tops, around $1735 level ahead of US data

Gold built on its steady intraday ascent through the mid-European session and refreshed daily tops, around the $1736 region in the last hour.

Following an early dip to the $1721 region, the precious metal caught some fresh bids and turned higher for the third consecutive session and moved back closer to one-week tops set in the previous session.

The US dollar failed to preserve its early gains and witnessed a modest intraday pullback from 2-1/2 week tops, despite doubts over the efficacy of Gilead Sciences’ antiviral drug remdesivir in treating the Covid-19.

A broad-based USD weakness extended some support to the dollar-denominated commodity, albeit a bullish turnaround in the equity markets seemed to undermine demand for traditional safe-haven assets and might cap the upside.

Hence, it will be prudent to wait for some strong follow-through buying, possibly beyond the overnight swing high, around the $1738-39 region, before positioning for a move back towards multi-year tops, around the $1748 area.

Moving ahead, market participants now look forward to the US Durable Goods Orders report for March, which might influence the USD price dynamics and produce some meaningful trading opportunities on the last day of the week.

Technical levels to watch