Like the beginning of last week too, the opening trading of the beginning of this week seems to be similar for gold with a fairly significant drop in price.
After the market jolted when the reaction to the United States (US) NFP jobs data was published last Friday, gold prices were seen opening below the $2,050 level at the start of the week yesterday.
The US dollar, which is the driving factor for the movement of gold, is seen to still fail to provide a clear direction following views on the setting of the Federal Reserve's (Fed) monetary policy for 2024 are still mixed.
The US inflation data that will be published this week will be an important key for the next indicator and influence further market movements.
Examining the XAU/USD chart which measures the value of gold against the US dollar, the price that opened below the level of 2050.00 in the Asian session yesterday continued to decline until the European session reached the daily lowest level around 2017.00.
There was a slight bounce when the US dollar currency weakened in early trading in the New York session, giving room for gold to 'breathe' again.
The price increase is just approaching the level of 2036.00 and remains seen moving in a bearish trend where the price is still below the barrier line of the Moving Average 50 (MA50) on the 1-hour time frame on the XAU/USD chart.
If the rally continues today above the MA50 barrier, this will be a more positive sign for gold with a tendency to go higher.
The 2050.00 level will become the focus again as an initial resistance to be tested if the increase occurs.
Next, the target will shift around 2070.00 while the current factors hovering in the market will be investors' caution.
If the current market situation continues to put pressure on gold, the bearish movement like the beginning of the week will continue again.
Price could break lower past yesterday's 2017.00 level and continue the decline towards the important zone at 2000.00.
