Gold price consolidates above multi-week low, looks to US data for fresh impetus

• Gold price manages to hold its neck above a multi-week low touched on Monday.
• Fed rate cut bets cap the attempted USD recovery and lend support to the metal.
• Traders now look to the US ADP report and ISM Services PMI for a fresh impetus.

Gold price (XAU/USD) came under renewed selling pressure on Tuesday and dropped to the $2,316-2,315 area, back closer to a multi-week low touched the previous day in the wake of a modest US Dollar (USD) strength. The attempted USD recovery from over a two-month low, however, lacked follow-through on the back of growing acceptance that the Federal Reserve (Fed) will start cutting interest rates later this year, bolstered by softer US macro data. The expectations keep the US Treasury bond yields depressed, which, in turn, is seen lending some support to the non-yielding yellow metal 

Apart from this, geopolitical risks stemming from the ongoing conflicts in the Middle East further assist the safe-haven Gold price to hold steady around the $2,330 area during the Asian session on Wednesday. Despite a combination of supporting factors, the XAU/USD struggles to attract any meaningful buyers as investors prefer to wait for the release of the crucial US monthly jobs data, or the Nonfarm Payrolls (NFP) report on Friday. In the meantime, the US ADP report on private-sector employment and the US ISM Services PMI might produce short-term opportunities later today. 

Daily Digest Market Movers: Gold price struggles to lure buyers despite firming Fed rate cut bets

• The US Dollar staged a modest bounce from over a two-month low touched on Tuesday and exerted downward pressure on the Gold price, though dismal US macro data helped limit losses. 
• The Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, or JOLTS report showed that job openings fell more than expected, by 296K to 8.059 million in April, or the lowest in more than three years.
• This follows the disappointing release of the US ISM Manufacturing PMI on Monday, which showed a surprising weakness in business activity and pointed to signs of a cooling US economy.
• Meanwhile, the risk that the US economy might be softening more than anticipated cemented bets for a September rate cut by the Federal Reserve, dragging the US Treasury bond yields lower.
• The rate-sensitive two-year US government bond and the benchmark 10-year Treasury yield languish near a two-week low, capping the USD and lending support to the non-yielding yellow metal. 
• Traders now look forward to Wednesday's US economic docket, featuring the release of the ADP report on private-sector employment and the ISM Services PMI to grab short-term opportunities.
• The focus, however, remains glued to the official monthly employment data, popularly known as the Nonfarm Payrolls report, which will determine the next leg of a directional move for the XAU/USD.

Technical Analysis: Gold price seems vulnerable below 50-day SMA, $2,315 holds the key for bulls

From a technical perspective, the Gold price now seems to have found acceptance below the 50-day Simple Moving Average (SMA). Moreover, oscillators on the daily chart have just started gaining negative traction and support prospects for further losses. A subsequent slide below the multi-week low, around the $2,315-2,314 area touched on Tuesday, will reaffirm the bearish bias and drag the XAU/USD below the $2,300 mark, towards testing the $2,280 horizontal support. Some follow-through selling will be seen as a fresh trigger for bearish traders and pave the way for an extension of the recent corrective decline witnessed over the past two weeks or so.

On the flip side, any meaningful upside now seems to confront stiff resistance near the $2,349-2,350 supply zone. The next relevant hurdle is pegged near the $2,360-2,364 area, which if cleared decisively should allow the Gold price to climb further towards the $2,385 intermediate hurdle en route to the $2,400 mark. The momentum could extend towards the $2,425 zone and eventually lift the XAU/USD to the $2,450 region, or the all-time peak touched in May.