Gold Price Analysis: XAU/USD struggles for direction, flat-lined around $1850-55 region

Gold seesawed between tepid gains/minor losses through the first half of the European session and remained confined in the previous session's trading range. The commodity was last seen hovering around the $1855-56 region, nearly unchanged for the day.

A combination of diverging forces failed to provide any meaningful impetus to the precious metal, instead led to a subdued/range-bound price action on Wednesday. The ongoing pullback in the US Treasury bond yields kept the US dollar bulls on the defensive. This was seen as a key factor lending some support to the dollar-denominated commodity.

The recent strong rally in the US bond yields lost steam in reaction to the strong demand seen at a $38 billion 10-year auction overnight. Adding to this, the Fed officials reiterated that the monetary policy is going to remain accommodative, which, in turn, extended some additional support to the non-yielding yellow metal and helped limit the downside.

The Democratic sweep in the crucial US Senate runoff elections in the state of Georgia raised expectations that President-elect Joe Biden would push for a multi-trillion-dollar stimulus package. This sparked a bond-market selloff and pushed the yield on the benchmark 10-year US government bond to ten-month highs on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, the supporting factors, to a larger extent, were negated by the underlying bullish sentiment in the global financial markets. The risk-on mood kept a lid on any meaningful upside for the safe-haven XAU/USD. The risk sentiment remained well supported by hopes for a strong global economic recovery and more US fiscal stimulus in 2021.

Apart from this, the rollout of vaccines for the highly contagious coronavirus disease helped offset worries about the continuous surge in new cases worldwide and might further boost investors' confidence. Hence, the path of least resistance for the XAU/USD remains on the downside and any attempted positive move might be seen as a selling opportunity.

Market participants now look forward to the US economic docket, highlighting the release of the latest consumer inflation figures. This, along with the US bond yields, might influence the USD price dynamics. Traders might further take cues from the broader market risk sentiment to grab some opportunities around the XAU/USD.

Technical levels to watch