On Friday, the gold price pulled back from the session highs of about $2,929 to trade at about $2,906 after the latest U.S. data. The XAU/USD trades within a sideways channel formation in the 60-minute chart. 

The price of the yellow metal has now fallen to trade slightly below the 100-hour moving average line. Friday’s pullback pushed the gold price closer to 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 U.S. market. On Friday, the U.S. nonfarm payrolls for February increased to 151k, up from 125k in January, missing the forecasted job count of 160k.

On the other hand, the average hourly wage growth for the month was 4% (YoY) up from 3.9% in the preceding month, but below the forecast of 4.1%. The (MoM) equivalent was in line with the estimate of 0.3%. The unemployment rate for February edged slightly higher to 4.1%, up from 4%, missing the forecast of 4%. 

Earlier in the week, the ISM Manufacturing PMI for February came in weaker than expected with 50.3 versus a forecast of 50.5, down from 50.9 in January, while the ISM Services PMI for the period outshone the estimate of 52.6 with a reading of 53.5.

The ADP employment change for February fell to 77k, down from 186k in January, missing the forecast of 140k, while the factory orders for January exceeded the (MoM) expectation of 1.6% with a change of 1.7%. Nonfarm productivity for Q4 also beat the forecast of 1.2% with a change of 1.5%, while unit labour costs missed 3% with 2.2%.

Gold Price Technical Analysis (the 60-min Chart)

Technically, the price of the yellow metal trades within a sideways channel formation in the 60-minute chart. The 14-hour RSI has recently pulled back to avoid rallying into the overbought conditions.

Therefore, the bears will look to extend the current pullback towards $2,894 or lower to $2,880. On the other hand, the bulls will look to pounce on rebounds at about $2,917 or higher at $2,929.

Gold Price Technical Analysis (the Daily Chart)

In the daily chart, the gold price trades within an ascending channel formation. The 14-day RSI also supports a long-term bullish bias as it moves closer to the overbought conditions.

Therefore, the bulls will look to ride the current run of gains toward $2,956 or higher to $3,008. On the other hand, the bears will look to pounce on pullbacks at about $2,850 or lower at $2,799.