It appears that the XAU/USD pair paused its ascent during the Asian session today level after five consecutive days of gains. Lately, there has been a constant upward pressure on the precious metal as investors have become more anxious after some weaker-than-expected economic data out of the United States have raised some doubts over whether the Federal Reserve will start reducing its massive stimulus program as early as next month.
The policy-setting Federal Open Market Committee’s next meeting is scheduled for September 17-18. Considering the fact that altering the pace of asset purchases will highly depend on economic conditions, I think the gold market will likely focus on the upcoming release of preliminary U.S. growth report and unemployment claims data.
Looking at the charts from a purely technical point of view, I think that yesterday's shooting star like candle suggests the XAU/USD pair found strong resistance and struggling to hold above the 1425 level. Because of that, witnessing a retracement at this point would not seem to be so surprising.
In the short-term, I expect a pull back towards the Ichimoku clouds which we see on the 4-hour time frame. If that is the case, support can be found at 1402, 1392 and 1380. However, if the American dollar takes a hit from the upcoming fundamentals and we close above 1425, it is quite possible that the pair will continue its bullish tendencies and test the first critical barrier at 1455. Once the pair clears 1455, more resistance will be waiting at 1480.
