The gold price on Friday pulled back below the 100-hour moving average to trade around $1,781 amid growing delta variant concerns. The price of the yellow metal continues to trade within a gently descending channel formation in the 60-min chart.

The gold price remains pinned centrally in the 14-hour RSI despite Friday’s pullback. Therefore, the current trend formation could continue through next week amid a lack of clear bias in the market.

Gold Price Fundamentals Overview

From a fundamental perspective, the yellow metal is trading at the back of a relatively busy period in the global markets. The gold price has experienced some traffic inflow amid slowing stock market activity due to the delta variant and the conclusion of the Q2 earnings season. However, US economic data this week restored some optimism in the greenback pushing the gold to the US dollar lower.

On Thursday, the US initial jobless claims for the week ending August 13 beat the expected claim count of 363k with 348k. However, continuing claims came in higher than expected at 2.82 million versus 2.80 million. On the other hand, the Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Survey for August missed the expectation of 23 with 19.4.

Earlier in the week, the US building permits for June outperformed expectations while housing starts came short of estimates. On the other hand, US retails sales for July missed expectations on all fronts.

Gold Price Technical Analysis (the 60-min Chart)

Technically, the XAU/USD seems to be trading within a gently descending channel formation in the 60-min chart. This indicates a slight short-term bearish bias in the market sentiment. The gold price has now crossed below the 100-hour moving average.

Therefore, the bears will be looking to extend the current downward movement towards $1,771 or lower to $1,759. On the other hand, the bulls will target potential rebounds at approximately $1,790 or higher at $1,802.

Gold Price Technical Analysis (the Daily Chart)

In the daily chart, the gold price seems to be trading within a descending channel formation. The yellow metal has recently bounced off current yearly lows of about $1,677. This indicates an attempt by the bulls to retake control.

Therefore, they will target extended rebound profits at approximately $1,811 or higher at $1,842. On the other hand, the bears will target long-term profits at around $1,745 or lower at $1,709.