Assessing the trading of gold-priced assets, the price movement over the past week saw a flat and slow pattern as investors continued to observe the factors affecting the current market, especially in relation to the US dollar.
The US dollar slightly firmed to end last week's closing trade after suffering a sustained decline in the wake of the banking crisis.
With expectations for the Federal Reserve (Fed) to slow down policy tightening, the NFP employment data report will be watched this Friday before the United States (US) inflation data is the focus next week.
Examining the XAU/USD chart which measures the value of gold against the US dollar, the price movement for the most recent 2 weeks was limited below the 2000.00 level after the attraction of the safe-haven asset gold began to fade.
However, until last week the price of gold was seen to be still holding above the 1950.00 zone which is a support for the price.
Investors were a bit jittery at the close of trade last week when gold, which failed to make a rally, dropped back down to the 1950.00 zone and tested it in early trade this week.
Price movement below the Moving Average 50 (MA50) level triggers a warning signal to investors for the probability that gold prices will fall even lower.
If the price of gold breaks past the 1950.00 zone earlier this week, the decline is seen to head towards the previous focus level of 1900.00 or lower.
However, if the price manages to bounce back, the high level reached last week around 1987.00 will be tested.
Next, the continued rise will return to the important resistance at the height of 2000.00.
