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Gold ticks lower but downside remains limited

   •  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

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

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