Gold Price Forecast: XAU/USD moves away from two-week high, focus remains on Fed's Powell

• Gold price meets with some supply and snaps a four-day winning streak to a two-week high.
• The US Dollar buying remains unabated and is seen driving flows away from the XAU/USD.
• Looming recession risks might help limit losses ahead of Fed Chair Jerome Powell's speech.

Gold price extends the previous day's late pullback from the $1,923-$1,924 region, or a two-week high and drifts lower through the Asian session on Friday. The XAU/USD currently trades just below the $1,915 level, down over 0.15% for the day, as traders now look to Federal Reserve (Fed) Chair Jerome Powell's highly-anticipated speech at the Jackson Hole Symposium.

Investors will look for fresh cues about the Fed's rate-hike path, which, in turn, will play a key role in influencing the near-term US Dollar (USD) price dynamics and help determine the next leg of a directional move for the Gold price. The disappointing release of the flash PMI prints from the United States (USD) on Wednesday showed that business activity in the world's largest economy approached the stagnation point in August and pushed back expectations for further tightening by the Fed. That said, the overnight hawkish remarks by Fed officials keep the door open for one more 25 basis points (bps) lift-off by the end of this year.

Boston Fed President Susan Collins said that the Fed may be at a place to hold rates steady, though noted that more rate hikes are possible and that it is premature to signal the timing of rate cuts. Separately, Philadelphia Fed President Patrick Harker stated that the central bank must keep its restrictive stance and added that inflation needs to fall further to pave the way for any rate cuts. The hawkish outlook, meanwhile, remains supportive of elevated US Treasury bond yields and pushes the USD Index (DXY) to its highest level since June 6, which, in turn, is seen driving some flows away from the US Dollar-denominated Gold price.

That said, worries about a deeper global economic downturn might offer some support to the safe-haven precious metal and help limit the downside, at least for the time being. Against the backdrop of the worsening economic conditions in China, a host of manufacturing surveys on Wednesday painted a grim picture of the health of economies across the globe and fueled recession fears. This continues to weigh on investors' sentiment, which is evident from a generally weaker tone around the equity markets and acts as a tailwind for the Gold price, warranting some caution before positioning for any further intraday decline.

Furthermore, the XAU/USD, so far, has managed to hold its neck above a technically significant 200-day Simple Moving Average (SMA) support. Hence, strong follow-through selling is needed to confirm that this week's goodish rebound from sub-$1,885 levels, or the lowest since March 13 has run its course. Nevertheless, the Gold price, for now, seems to have snapped a four-day winning streak, though remains on track to register first weekly gains in the previous five.

Technical levels to watch