Gold price remains confined in a range as traders keenly await Fed Chair Powell's speech

• Gold price attracts some buying on Wednesday, albeit struggles to capitalize on the move up. 
• Recession fears and geopolitical risks turn out to be key factors lending support to the metal. 
• The prospects for further policy tightening by the Fed continue to cap gains for the commodity.

Gold price (XAU/USD) gains some positive traction on Wednesday and move away from the weekly low, around the $1,954-1,953 area touched the previous day. The precious metal manages to hold its neck above the $1,970 level through the first half of the European session and for now, seems to have stalled its recent retracement slide from the vicinity of the $2,000 psychological mark, or a five-month top touched last Friday. 

Looming recession risk, fueled by a flurry of weaker economic data from Europe on Tuesday, along with the Middle East conflict, turns out to be another factor lending some support to the safe-haven Gold price. That said, a fresh leg up in the US Treasury bond yields and the emergence of some US Dollar (USD) dip-buying, bolstered by hawkish Federal Reserve (Fed) expectations, cap the upside for the non-yielding yellow metal. 

Traders also seem reluctant and prefer to wait for Fed Chair Jerome Powell's speech later during the US session. The focus, meanwhile, remains on the US Core PCE Price Index on Friday, which could provide some meaningful impetus to the commodity.

Daily Digest Market Movers: Gold price continues with its struggle to gain traction

• Gold price attracts some buyers in the wake of retreating US Treasury bond yields, which keeps the US Dollar (USD) bulls on the defensive, and geopolitical risks.
• World leaders pushed for either a pause or ceasefire between Israel and Hamas so that humanitarian aid could be delivered to the besieged Gaza Strip.
• The benchmark 10-year US Treasury yield moves further away from a 16-year peak after crossing the symbolic 5% threshold level for the first time since 2007.
• Business activity in the Euro Zone took a surprise turn for the worse and revived recession fears, which further benefits the safe-haven XAU/USD.
• The US manufacturing sector pulled out of a five-month contraction and services activity accelerated modestly, pointing to a still resilient economy.
• The Fed is expected to maintain the status quo in November, though the markets are pricing in the possibility of one more 25 basis point lift-off by the year-end.
• Investors now look to Fed Chair Jerome Powell's speech for cues about the future rate-hike path, which, in turn, should provide a fresh impetus to the metal.
• The focus will also be on the Advance US Q3 GDP report and the European Central Bank (ECB) rate decision on Thursday, followed by the US PCE price index on Friday.

Technical Analysis: Gold price remains below the $1,982-1,983 pivotal resistance

From a technical perspective, any subsequent move up is likely to confront some resistance near the weekly high, around the $1,982-1,983 region. Some follow-through buying should allow the Gold price to make a fresh attempt to conquer the $2,000 psychological mark. The subsequent move up has the potential to lift the XAU/USD further towards the next relevant hurdle near the $2,022 area.

On the flip side, the $1,964 level now seems to protect the immediate downside ahead of the weekly low, around the $1,953-1,952 zone touched on Tuesday. The latter represents a strong horizontal resistance breakpoint and should act as a pivotal point, below which the Gold price could slide back to the 200-day Simple Moving Average (SMA), currently pegged near the $1,932-1,931 region.