Gold ticks lower but downside remains limited

Haresh Menghani FXStreet

• US-China trade optimism dampens the commodity’s safe-haven demand.
• The ongoing USD slide/fading Fed rate hike expectations help limit downside.

Gold prices edged lower on Thursday but remained well within a narrow trading band, held over the past three sessions.

Signs of easing US-China trade tensions continued denting the precious metal's safe-haven status, though the negative factor was partly negated by a weaker tone around the European equities.

Meanwhile, the US Dollar extended its retracement from near one-month tops and was seen extending some support to the dollar-denominated commodity.

Adding to this, fading expectations for further Fed interest rate hikes in 2019 might continue to underpin the non-yielding yellow metal and further collaborate towards limiting any meaningful slide.

Hence, the price action since the beginning of this week might still be categorized as a consolidation phase ahead of the next big catalyst - the latest FOMC monetary policy update, scheduled to be announced next Wednesday.

Technical levels to watch

XAU/USD

Overview:
    Today Last Price: 1244.74
    Today Daily change: -1.1e+2 pips
    Today Daily change %: -0.0907%
    Today Daily Open: 1245.87
Trends:
    Previous Daily SMA20: 1229.62
    Previous Daily SMA50: 1225.61
    Previous Daily SMA100: 1212.89
    Previous Daily SMA200: 1231.76
Levels:
    Previous Daily High: 1247.21
    Previous Daily Low: 1242.1
    Previous Weekly High: 1250.1
    Previous Weekly Low: 1221.39
    Previous Monthly High: 1237.4
    Previous Monthly Low: 1196.4
    Previous Daily Fibonacci 38.2%: 1245.26
    Previous Daily Fibonacci 61.8%: 1244.05
    Previous Daily Pivot Point S1: 1242.91
    Previous Daily Pivot Point S2: 1239.95
    Previous Daily Pivot Point S3: 1237.79
    Previous Daily Pivot Point R1: 1248.02
    Previous Daily Pivot Point R2: 1250.18
    Previous Daily Pivot Point R3: 1253.14

Author

Haresh Menghani

FXStreet

Haresh Menghani is a detail-oriented professional with 10+ years of extensive experience in analysing the global financial markets.

EUR/USD flirts with daily highs, retargets 1.1900

EUR/USD regains upside traction, returning to the 1.1880 zone and refocusing its attention to the key 1.1900 barrier. The pair’s slight gains comes against the backdrop of a humble decline in the US Dollar as investors continue to assess the latest US CPI readings and the potential Fed’s rate path.

GBP/USD remains well bid around 1.3650

GBP/USD maintains its upside momentum in place, hovering around daily highs near 1.3650 and setting aside part of the recent three-day drop. Cable’s improved sentiment comes on the back of the Greenback’s irresolute price action, while recent hawkish comments from the BoE’s Pill also collaborate with the uptick.

Gold clings to gains just above $5,000/oz

Gold is reclaiming part of the ground lost on Wednesday’s marked decline, as bargain-hunters keep piling up and lifting prices past the key $5,000 per troy ounce. The precious metal’s move higher is also underpinned by the slight pullback in the US Dollar and declining US Treasury yields across the curve.

Crypto Today: Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP in choppy price action, weighed down by falling institutional interest

Bitcoin's upside remains largely constrained amid weak technicals and declining institutional interest. Ethereum trades sideways above $1,900 support with the upside capped below $2,000 amid ETF outflows.

Week ahead – Data blitz, Fed Minutes and RBNZ decision in the spotlight

US GDP and PCE inflation are main highlights, plus the Fed minutes. UK and Japan have busy calendars too with focus on CPI. Flash PMIs for February will also be doing the rounds. RBNZ meets, is unlikely to follow RBA’s hawkish path.

Ripple Price Forecast: XRP potential bottom could be in sight

Ripple edges up above the intraday low of $1.35 at the time of writing on Friday amid mixed price actions across the crypto market. The remittance token failed to hold support at $1.40 the previous day, reflecting risk-off sentiment amid a decline in retail and institutional sentiment.