In contrast to the bullish early March movement, gold ended last week's trade in a more flat pattern.
The strengthening of the US dollar, driven by rising inflation data readings in the United States (US), capped a previous series of gold price gains.
The focus will be on the FOMC meeting this week which is also expected to have a major impact on gold movements.
Investors scrutinize the XAU/USD price chart, which measures the value of gold against the US dollar, after the price rally failed to continue last week.
Last Friday March 8, the price of gold managed to reach a new all-time high of 2195.00.
But the series of price increases did not continue last week when the strengthening of the US dollar again put pressure on gold.
The price has leveled above the 2153.00 level and is also seen to be below the Moving Average 50 (MA50) obstacle line on the 1-hour time frame on the XAU/USD chart.
Although the price movement was slow at the beginning of this week, but the price has dropped lower than last week in the Asian session this morning which touched the level of 2146.00.
Lower declines are expected as investors watch if the US dollar manages to maintain its strength from last week.
If it happens, the price will continue to give a more clear bearish signal with a downward target heading up to around 2080.00 again.
However, if the situation this week succeeds in raising the price of gold to rise, the previous highest record will be overcome.
The current target is for the level of 2200.00 to be reached before the price of gold continues to reach new heights.
