The price of gold (XAU/USD) trimmed session gains late on Friday after pulling off the current weekly highs in a consolidative pattern formation. The price of the yellow metal continues to trade in a consolidative triangle pattern with an ascending baseline and a flat top, which signals a potential bullish breakout in the coming days.
The gold price is now pegged just below the $1,480 level and continues to enjoy strong support from the 100-hour SMA. The yellow metal is trading centrally in the RSI indicator in the 60-min chart, which supports a continuation of the current trend.
Gold Price Fundamentals Overview
From a fundamental perspective, the price of gold is trading at the back of a busy period in the global financial markets. The preliminary PMIs across Europe and the UK disappointed by missing key estimates. The UK exit elections saw the Conservative party win the majority throwing the Brexit into another period of uncertainty.
In the US, the Services and Composite PMIs beat expectations while the Manufacturing PMI was in line. Building Permits, Housing Starts and Industrial production also impressed during the week.
On Thursday, the initial jobless claims for the week ending December 13, missed the expectation of 225k with 234k claims while continuing claims for the week ending December 06, also disappointed with 1.722M versus an expectation of 1.681M. The Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Survey missed by a landslide with 0.3 versus 8.0.
Gold Price Technical Analysis (the 60-min Chart)
Technically, the price of gold appears to be trading ina consolidative triangle in the 60-min chart. This indicates a short-term bullish bias in the market sentiment that could lead to a bullish breakout in the next few days. The price of the yellow metal could also maintain the current trend given the position within the RSI indicator.
Therefore, the bulls will be targeting short-term profits at around $1,481 or higher at $1,486 going into next week. On the other hand, the bears will look to pounce for profits at around $1,474 or lower at $1,470.
Gold Price Technical Analysis (the Daily Chart)
In the daily chart, the price of the yellow metal appears to be still experiencing intense bearish pressure as it continues to trade within a descending channel. The gold price is now pegged between the 100-day and the 200-day SMA lines with a slight bearish pressure, which again supports the bearish case.
Therefore, the bears will be targeting long-term profits at around $1,460, $1,445, $1,429 or lower at $1,400. On the other hand, the bulls will hope for a continued rebound towards $1,496, $1,516, $1,536 or higher at $1,557.