Gold Price Analysis: XAU/USD looks to snap three-day downtrend below $1,900

• Gold bounces off $1,869.60 while consolidating three-day losses from $1,899.14.
• S&P 500 Futures open with mild gains despite virus woes, risk-negative news concerning China.
• Vaccine hopes gain a boost after Pfizer joins Moderna with 95% effective rate.
• Risk catalysts to dominate in Asia, US data can add to the watch-list afterward.

Gold prices ease to $1,871 during the pre-Tokyo open Asian trading on Thursday. Even so, the yellow metal marks a halt to the previous three days’ declines. While the bullion’s earlier losses could be traced to the coronavirus (COVID-19) woes, also ignoring the vaccine euphoria, the latest criticism of China’s position in Tibet and Hong Kong gained a little reaction from the markets.

Bears catch a breather, not out of the woods…

Despite the recent halt in the short-term bearish moves, gold prices aren’t immune to the global worries concerning the COVID-19 resurgence. Not only from the US, where the death toll recently surged to 250,000, but Tokyo also recently alarmed investors.

New York restricts personal presence at the schools while policymakers from Japan suggested alerts in the capital to raise to the highest after the daily count crosses 50 on November 16. The latest news from Kyodo suggests that Japan’s COVID-19 cases grew past-2,000 for the first time since the virus outbreak on Wednesday. On the positive side, Pfizer conveyed the final results of trials suggesting a 95% effective rate whereas the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine is also on the way with expected good results.

Other than the virus updates and vaccine news, global angst versus China’s stand in Hong Kong also affects the risks. Recently, policymakers from the US, Australia and the UK jointly released a statement urging China to stop undermining the rights of the people of Hong Kong by respecting international commitments. Furthermore, chatters that the US Senate will go on a recess until the week comprising November 30 without any updates on the stimulus also weigh the market sentiment.

Amid all these catalysts, S&P 500 Futures mark 0.20% intraday gains after Wall Street benchmarks closed in the red.

Moving on, the virus updates and vaccine news will be the key catalysts to watch while US stimulus news and China’s response to the global leaders can also offer immediate direction to gold traders.

Technical analysis

Not only the weekly top surrounding $1,899 but the $1,900 threshold and the 50-day SMA level of $1,901.37 also challenge the short-term gold buyers. However, any downside above September’s low near $1,848 becomes less problematic.