Where Did You Gold? – Close Fight as The Gold Bulls and Bears Continues Tight Struggle

At the time of writing, the price of gold is still below $1,800 and currently stands at $1,778. It is trading well marginally above its 50-day Simple Moving Average (SMA). The Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) is also indicating a bearish reversal. However, it is evident that gold buyers are taking the opportunity as the Relative Strength Index (RSI) is close to an overbought condition and stands at 62. 

Source: Yahoo Finance

Taking a look at the technical levels, analyst Dhwani Mehta from FX Street believes that a key support level lies at $1,777, which is not too far from the present price of gold. Should this support give way, the bears would need to take down support levels at $1,770 and $1,754.

On the upside, gold bulls face resistance levels at $1,788 and $1,803, which is the previous month low. Should the bulls successfully take on these levels, the next key resistance lies at $1,808, which is the SMA5 one-day and SMA100 one-hour. Meanwhile, the current price of spot gold is $1,790.57.

Over in the markets, the U.S. Retail Sales data smashed through the roof and came in at 5.3%, above a forecast of 1.1%. Optimism levels soared which strengthened the greenback which then impacted the cause of gold bulls.

The Consumer News and Business Channel (CNBC) also reported that breakeven inflation, which is a measure of expected inflation, is at 2.2%, its highest levels since 2014. Hopes of a return to normal is evident in the market, and traders are now closely watching the progress of the Biden stimulus package and vaccination progress to validate their upbeat sentiment.

Is the world turning a long-awaited corner when it comes to this pandemic? If it is, it wouldn’t be positive news for the yellow metal, as traders turn their attention back towards other asset classes.

In the meantime, the gold bulls are clearly still struggling with the bears for dominance; as the world waits to see: Who will be the champion?

XAU/USD (as of Feb 18, 2021, 12.15 p.m., GMT +8) - $1,778

FOLLOWME XAU/USD User Sentiment (as of Feb 18, 2021 at 12.42 p.m.)

Short – 47.38%

Long – 52.62%