Gold Price Analysis: XAU/USD slides back under $1740 in quiet, subdued trade conditions

It's been a fairly subdued day for spot gold prices (XAU/USD), with the precious metal failing to hold above $1740 although continuing to trade comfortably above earlier session lows just above the $1730 level. The most immediate levels of support and resistance that traders should take note of is the $1730 to $1745 range that gold prices have ranged between over the last two days. A break above this range could open the door to a move towards mid-March highs close to $1756, while a break below this area could see the precious metals drop back to its 21-day moving average of around $1725.

Driving the day

It’s not been the most exciting day for precious metals markets; the US dollar has been picking up modestly in recent trade, but not enough to result in a material shift in gold’s fortunes. Meanwhile, US government bond markets have been rangebound and not much changed for most of the session, which, again hasn’t given gold much to go off of. In fairness, the treasury curve has seen some bear steepening in recent trade, which itself is not necessarily a negative for gold even though it involves higher long-term yields due to the fact that it also implies higher inflation expectations.

In terms of fundamental catalysts, we have had the FOMC minutes and some comments from US President Joe Biden on his infrastructure spending proposal. Neither contained much new information and, as a result, both largely failed to inject directional impetus into the market that has traded without any particular risk bias for most of the session.