Gold Price: XAU/USD hits fresh record high, around $1984-85 region

Gold spiked to fresh all-time highs, around the $1984-85 region during the early European session, albeit quickly retreated a bit thereafter.

Following the previous day's profit-taking slide and a subsequent rebound from the $1940 area, the precious metal managed to regain traction on the last trading day of the week. The uptick marked the tenth day of a positive move in the previous eleven and was sponsored by the prevalent bearish sentiment surrounding the US dollar.

Concerns that the economic recovery in the US could be grinding to a halt amid the ever-increasing coronavirus cases continued exerting heavy pressure on the greenback. The market worries resurfaced following the release of the advance US Q2 GDP report on Thursday, which showed that the economy contracted by a record 32.9% annualized pace.

Adding to this, the impasse over the next round of the US fiscal stimulus measures further undermined the already weaker greenback and benefitted the dollar-denominated commodity. It is worth reporting that Congressional Republicans and Democrats have been struggling to reach a deal on fiscal spending ahead of the expiry of some earlier provisions on Friday.

This comes on the back of dovish FOMC statement earlier this week, which coupled with the ongoing downfall in the US Treasury bond yields further drove flows towards the non-yielding yellow metal. However, modest gains in the US equity markets kept a lid on any further gains for the safe-haven commodity, at least for the time being.

Market participants now look forward to second-tier US economic releases for some impetus. Friday's US economic docket features the release of Core PCE Price Index, Personal Income/Spending data, Chicago PMI and Revised Michigan Consumer Sentiment. This along with the broader risk sentiment might produce some meaningful trading opportunities.

Technical levels to watch