On Friday, the gold price pulled back from the session highs of about $4,486 to trade at about $4,355 before bouncing back to $4,424. The XAU/USD trades within a descending channel formation on the 60-minute chart.
The price of the yellow metal continues to trade slightly above the 100-hour moving average line after the late rebound. As a result, gold still has room left to run before reaching the oversold levels of the 14-hour RSI.
Gold Price Fundamentals Overview
From a fundamental perspective, the XAU/USD trades during a relatively busy period in the US market. On Friday, the US jobs data came in better than expected, 162k versus a forecast of 56k, up from the previous month’s equivalent of 21k.
The unemployment rate for the month matched the expectation of 4.1%, unchanged from July. On the other hand, the average hourly wage growth from the period outshone the forecast (YoY) change of 3%, with a change of 3.1%. The (MoM) equivalent was in line with the estimate of 0.3%.
On Thursday, the US ISM Services PMI for August rose to 55.4, up from the previous month’s equivalent of 54.1, beating the forecast reading of 54.3. On the other hand, the S&P Global Composite PMI for the period remained unchanged from July, at 56, as expected.
Elsewhere, the US nonfarm productivity for Q2 matched the expected change of 1.4%, while unit labor costs for the quarter fell short of the estimated change of 1.3%, with a change of 1.2%.
The US initial jobless claims for last week came in worse than expected, 206k versus a forecast of 205k, up from the previous week’s equivalent of 204k.
Gold Price Technical Analysis (the 60-min Chart)
Technically, the gold price trades within a descending channel formation on the 60-minute chart. The 14-hour RSI also supports a bearish bias as it moves closer to oversold conditions.
Therefore, the bears will look to extend the current run of declines toward $4,355 or lower, to $4,277. On the other hand, the bulls will look to pounce on rebounds at about $4,486 or higher, up to $4,559.
Gold Price Technical Analysis (the Daily Chart)
In the daily chart, the price of the yellow metal trades within an ascending channel formation. However, the 14-day RSI has recently pulled back to avoid rallying into overbought conditions.
Therefore, the bears will look to stretch the latest pullback towards $4,200 or lower, to $3,953. On the other hand, the bulls will look to pounce on profits at about $4,648 or higher, up to $4,887.