GOLD recovers, capped by $3,350, trend viewOANDA:XAUUSD recovered then weakened as it failed to break above $3,350, supported by a weaker dollar and market uncertainty sparked by reports that U.S. President Donald Trump could replace Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell in September or October. The reports raised concerns about the future independence of the Federal Reserve, boosting demand for safe-haven gold.
On Wednesday, Trump called Powell “terrible” and said he was considering three or four candidates to replace him. Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal reported that Trump was even considering announcing a potential successor as early as September or October.
The current market narrative is that once Trump nominates a new Fed chair, market expectations will tend to favor a more “dovish” Fed. This could lead to a weaker US dollar, higher long-term US Treasury yields and higher stock prices.
Forexlive points out that this story may be more an emotional reaction than a result of objective and rational thinking. The policy of the FOMC (Federal Open Market Committee) is decided not only by the Fed Chairman but also by a majority vote of the 12 voting members (including 7 directors and 5 regional Fed presidents). The Fed Chairman does have a lot of influence, but he does not have absolute control over monetary policy. The Fed was originally designed to be independent of political pressure.
Moreover, even if Trump nominates the next chairman, there is no guarantee that this will automatically lead to a rate cut. In fact, Powell was also nominated by Trump, but his monetary policy decisions are still based on professional judgment rather than serving Trump's wishes.
So, in the worst case, the market could face policy uncertainty as differences between FOMC members increase and more disagreements emerge. Currently, there are fewer moderate members on the committee, while neutral or hawkish members dominate.
Markets are now focused on personal consumption expenditure (PCE) data due later today (Friday) for further clues on whether the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates.
On the geopolitical front, a ceasefire between Israel and Iran appeared to be in place on Wednesday after Trump hailed a swift end to the 12-day conflict at the NATO summit and said he would seek a commitment from Iran to abandon its nuclear ambitions in talks next week.
Technical Outlook Analysis OANDA:XAUUSD
On the daily chart, after gold recovered and reached the initial target at 3,350 USD, the nearest resistance is also the price point of the EMA21 noted for readers in the previous publication.
However, the recovery momentum is currently weakening, specifically at the time of writing, the gold price is falling below 3,320 USD. Gold falling below 3,320 USD provides conditions for a possible decline with the next target around 3,302 - 3,300 USD, which is the area of the 0.382% Fibonacci retracement confluence with the lower edge of the price channel.
In terms of momentum, the RSI is heading down and breaking below 50, which should be considered an initial bearish signal.
Overall, gold does not have a clear long-term trend as the uptrend is still the main trend, while the momentum is showing signs of decline.
But personally, I am still leaning towards the uptrend, and continue to look for positions to buy.
Finally, the notable positions will be listed as follows.
Support: 3,302 – 3,300 USD
Resistance: 3,320 – 3,350 – 3,371 USD
SELL XAUUSD PRICE 3367 - 3365⚡️
↠↠ Stop Loss 3371
→Take Profit 1 3359
↨
→Take Profit 2 3353
BUY XAUUSD PRICE 3272 - 3274⚡️
↠↠ Stop Loss 3268
→Take Profit 1 3280
↨
→Take Profit 2 3286
