The gold market appears to be stable with the bulls and bears gaining and losing ground almost equally during the Asian session. Since yesterday the XAU/USD pair has been trading in a relatively tight range as investors are awaiting the release of the monthly non-farm payrolls report. After two days of consecutive losses, holding above the 1225 support level is positive for gold prices.
However, the bulls will be having hard time to gain more traction while prices are moving below Ichimoku clouds on the daily chart and similarly the bears will be struggling to regain their strength as long as prices are above the cloud on the 4-hour time frame.
Although the market found some support around the 1225 level, the pair has to push its way through the 1237 - 1242 resistance zone in order to gain more momentum. The real challenges will be waiting the bulls at the 1252 level and in the 1265/8 zone where the bottom line of the Ichimoku cloud and the top of the descending channel coincide on the daily chart.
To the downside, expect to see support between the 1225 and 1213 levels which roughly define the borders of the Ichimoku cloud on the 4-hour chart. If the bears increase the pressure and manage to drag prices below 1213, it is likely that the pair will test the 1205 support next. Closing below that level would indicate that we are about to go all the way back to the 1195 level.