GOLD sellers refuse to give up ahead of more Trump-Xi talks

• Gold hits fresh one-week lows, testing $4,600 while on track for a weekly decline.
• The US Dollar stands tall amid rising inflation fears-led hawkish Fed expectations and higher Treasury yields.     
• Gold looks to test the falling wedge resistance-turned-support, as the daily RSI flips bearish.  

Gold has broken its consolidation phase to the downside in Asian trade on Friday, challenging one-week lows near $4,600 on its way to book a weekly loss.

The optimism over an improvement in the trade relationship between the United States (US) and China, combined with increased hawkish expectations about the Federal Reserve’s (Fed) interest rate outlook, bolsters the US Dollar (USD) recovery and exacerbates the pain in Gold.

US President Donald Trump said in a Fox News interview on Friday that China will open its market in stages and intends to purchase significant volumes of US agricultural products and oil, signalling an improving geopolitical relationship with China.

Meanwhile, Trump’s comment that he is “not going to be much more patient on Iran,” fuelled a fresh bounce in Oil prices, aggravating inflation concerns and keeping the market’s narrative over the Fed’s higher for longer stance intact.

That also propelled the US Treasury bond yields higher, acting as another supportive factor for the Greenback. Gold thrives on lower interest rates and tends to lose out on the hawkish Fed expectations.

Looking ahead, it remains to be seen if Gold manages to find some relief as traders brace for day 2 of talks between Trump and Chinese President.

Any discussion about ending the Iran war or further warnings on Taiwan could trigger a big reaction in Gold. The end-of-the-week flows will also influence the bright metal’s price action as the focus shifts back to the US-Iran standoff over a peace deal.

Daily technical analysis

In the daily chart, XAU/USD trades at $4,609.47, extending its pullback below a dense band of moving average resistance and keeping a bearish near-term tone. Spot holds under the 21-day simple moving average (SMA) at $4,673, the 50-day SMA at $4,730 and the 100-day SMA at $4,791, suggesting rallies are being capped beneath a declining medium-term trend zone. The Relative Strength Index (14) at 43 leans lower, hinting that downside pressure persists rather than a momentum reset higher.

On the topside, initial resistance appears at the 21-day SMA near $4,673, with further hurdles at the 50-day SMA around $4,730 and the 100-day SMA close to $4,791, where sellers are likely to defend the broader downtrend. On the downside, the prior descending resistance line, now a reference support area around $4,481, precedes more solid backing at the 200-day SMA near $4,347; a daily close below this latter level would strengthen the bearish case and open the door to a deeper correction.