Gold Price Forecast: XAU/USD on its way to retest record highs

Valeria Bednarik FXStreet

XAU/USD Current price: $2,653.70

Market players started the new year, dropping high-yielding assets amid persistent uncertainty.
Central banks’ hawkishness and political uncertainty undermine the market’s mood.
XAU/USD is reaching overbought conditions in the near term, but buyers are unlikely to give up.

Spot Gold trades around $2,650 a troy ounce as market players slowly return to their desks in the New Year holiday aftermath. Investors started the year dropping high-yielding assets, expressing their concerns about what the new year may bring.

Speculation that central banks may keep slowing the pace of interest rate cuts amid stubborn inflation are among the main themes. Geopolitical tensions are also at the top of the list after Ukraine interrupted the flow of Russian gas to several European countries after a former agreement ended on New Year’s Day, with Ukraine refusing to renew it.

Meanwhile, a risk-averse environment dominates the scenes. United States (US) indexes started the day with a positive tone but quickly dipped in the red, sending investors into safe-haven Gold.

XAU/USD short-term technical outlook

XAU/USD peaked at $2,655.68 and holds nearby in the mid-American session. From a technical point of view, the daily chart shows that the positive momentum is not enough to confirm additional gains, yet also that bulls dominate the bright metal. XAU/USD currently trades above all its moving averages, recovering above a flat 20 Simple Moving Average (SMA) after finding buyers around a bullish 100 SMA. Technical indicators, in the meantime, have pared their slides and turned marginally higher, albeit with uneven strength and still far from reflecting strong buying interest.

In the near term, and according to the 4-hour chart, however, XAU/USD is firmly bullish. The Momentum indicator heads north almost vertically well above its 100 line, while the Relative Strength Index (RSI) indicator advances around 70. Finally, the pair has moved above all its moving averages, although they lack directional strength. Gold needs to settle above $2,664.27, December 16 high, to convince speculative interest it could re-test record highs.

Support levels: 2,639.15 2,621.60 2,607.30

Resistance levels: 2,664.30 2,678.85 2,691.60

Premium

You have reached your limit of 3 free articles for this month.

Start your subscription and get access to all our original articles.

Subscribe to Premium Sign In

Author

Valeria Bednarik

FXStreet

Valeria Bednarik was born and lives in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Her passion for math and numbers pushed her into studying economics in her younger years.

EUR/USD hovers around 1.1850 ahead of FOMC Minutes

EUR/USD stays on the back foot around 1.1850 in the European session on Wednesday, pressured by renewed US Dollar demand. Traders now look forward to the Minutes of the Fed's January monetary policy meeting for fresh signals on future rate cuts.

GBP/USD defends 1.3550 after UK inflation data

GBP/USD is holding above 1.3550 in Wednesday's European morning, little changed following the UK Consumer Price Index (CPI) data release. The UK inflation eased as expected in January, reaffirming bets for a March BoE interest rate cut, especially after Tuesday's weak employment report.

Gold: Is the $5,000 level back in sight?

Gold snaps a two-day downtrend, as recovery gathers traction toward $5,000 on Wednesday. The US Dollar recovers from the overnight sell-off as rebalancing trades resume ahead of Fed Minutes. The 38.2% Fib support holds on the daily chart for now. What does that mean for Gold?

Pi Network rally defies market pressure ahead of its first anniversary

Pi Network is trading above $0.1900 at press time on Wednesday, extending the weekly gains by nearly 8% so far. The steady recovery is supported by a short-term pause in mainnet migration, which reduces pressure on the PI token supply for Centralized Exchanges. The technical outlook focuses on the $0.1919 resistance as bullish momentum increases.

UK jobs market weakens, bolstering rate cut hopes

In the UK, the latest jobs report made for difficult reading. Nonetheless, this represents yet another reminder for the Bank of England that they need to act swiftly given the collapse in inflation expected over the coming months.

Top 3 Price Prediction: Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Ripple face downside risk as bears regain control

Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Ripple remain under pressure on Wednesday, with the broader trend still sideways. BTC is edging below $68,000, nearing the lower consolidating boundary, while ETH and XRP also declined slightly, approaching their key supports.