Gold bulls struggle to recover above $1950

Gold prices have been under pressure this week as the greenback reached its highest level since February. The DXY index moved above 105 following better-than-expected Non-Manufacturing PMI (54.5 vs 52.5 forecast) and Initial Jobless Claims data (216K vs 234K expected).

XAUUSD bulls are struggling to recover above $1950, as uncertainty looms over the Fed’s interest rate decision later this month.

A surprise further increase in interest rates or a hawkish stance might divert investors away from zero-yielding gold.

Money markets currently price an unchanged decision above 90% for the FOMC September 20 meeting.

The turbulent Chinese economic recovery has also weighed on gold prices. A recently, lower-than -expected trade balance reading for August (68.36 billion vs 73.90 billion estimated) indicated the possibility of further economic contraction.

From a technical perspective, gold continues to trade below 50-period SMA, indicating a potential downtrend. The 21-period SMA is set to provide immediate support at $1915. This morning, prices have bounced off the 200-period SMA at $1918. 

The Relative Strength Index (RSI) is positioned almost in the middle of the 30-70 range (<30 – oversold; >70 – overbought), indicating investor’s indecisiveness as they wait for more macro-economic clues.