The gold price on Friday pulled back off the session highs of about $2,062 to trade at about $2,042 after the latest round of US data. The XAU/USD continues to trade within an ascending channel formation in the 60-minute chart.

The price of the yellow metal has now pulled back to trade below the 100-hour moving average line. Friday’s pullback also prevented gold from advancing into the overbought levels of the 14-hour RSI.

Gold Price Fundamentals Overview

From a fundamental perspective, the yellow metal is trading at the back of a relatively busy period in the US market. On Friday, the US unemployment rate for December remained unchanged at 3.7%, beating the forecasted rate of 3.8%. The US jobs data for the month also came in stronger than expected with a tally of 216k compared to an estimate of 170k, while the average hourly wage beat both the (MoM) and (YoY) expectations of 0.3% and 3.9%, respectively with changes of 0.4% and 4.1%. On the other hand, factory orders for the period outshone the forecast of 2.1% with a (MoM) change of 2.6%.

Elsewhere, the ISM Manufacturing PMI for December missed the expected reading of 52.6 with a reading of 50.6. On Thursday, the ADP Employment Change for December outperformed the expected change of 115k with a change of 164k. On the other hand, the initial jobless claims for the week ending December 22 beat the forecasted claim count of 216k with a significantly lower tally of 202k, while the continuing claims beat 1.882 million with 1.855 million.

Gold Price Technical Analysis (the 60-min Chart)

Technically, the price of gold appears to be trading within an ascending channel formation in the 60-minute chart. However, the 14-hour RSI has recently pulled back to avoid rallying into overbought conditions.

Therefore, the bulls will be targeting extended gains at about $2,047 or higher at $2,055. On the other hand, the bears will look to extend the current pullback towards $2,037 or lower to $2,030.

Gold Price Technical Analysis (the Daily Chart)

In the daily chart, the price of the yellow metal also appears to be trading within an ascending channel formation. However, the 14-day RSI has recently pulled back to avoid advancing into overbought conditions.

Therefore, the bears will be targeting extended pullbacks at about $2,016 or lower at $1,991. On the other hand, the bulls will look to pounce on rebounds at about $2,062 or higher at $2,087.