XAU/USD Lurching towards $2,000 amidst downside swoons

• Spot Gold continues to grind towards the upside, though regular downside pullbacks muddling the picture.
• XAU/USD hit a high of $1,993.55 for the week in early Thursday trading before slipping to $1,971.
• A bumper US GDP reading has Gold reaching higher once more as investors fear more inflation.

The XAU/USD chart is looking topside once more as spot Gold prices find a floor after US Gross Domestic Product (GDP) figures beat the street, and a firm US economy is set to keep the Federal Reserve (Fed) at bay on future rate cuts.

Despite a slight miss in unemployment claims, the US economy continues to churn out better-than-expected economic figures, and a notable lack of meaningful downturn indicators means the Fed will have to keep rates higher for longer. Investors hoping for a quick return to rate cuts by the Fed continue to be disappointed by the resilient US economy.

US GDP expands at an annual rate of 4.9% in Q3 vs. 4.2% expected

US data still isn’t done beating up investors for the week, with the Personal Consumption Expenditure (PCE) Price Index set to print on Friday. Markets are expecting the PCE Index for September to come in at 0.3%, a step above August’s 0.1%, and the annualized figure is expected to tick down from 3.9% to 3.7%. As the Fed’s preferred method of measuring inflation, the PCE Index indicator will be closely watched as investors try to draw a bead on when the Fed could potentially start considering rate cuts.

The Fed “dot plot” currently has interest rates on hold until well into 2024.

XAU/USD Technical Outlook

Spot Gold prices continue to gear for a run at the $2,000 handle in an attempt to reclaim the level that was lost back in May of this year, and Gold has seen an almost 10% rally from October’s lows near $1,810.

XAU/USD bids continue to struggle at the medium-term price ceiling around $1,980 that constrained topside momentum back in July. A break higher will see Gold set for a challenge of 2023’s peak bids near $2,079.76 from May, while a bearish reversal will see XAU/USD back into the 200-day Simple Moving Average (SMA) currently building out a floor from $1,932.

XAU/USD Daily Chart

XAU/USD Technical Levels