Today the gold market remains steady during the Asian session as most investors are waiting for the U.S. retail sales and unemployment claims data which will be released later today. Fed President Yellen's testimony before the Senate Banking Committee was scheduled for today but has been postponed due to weather. Yesterday the XAU/USD pair found support around the 1283 level and it seems that the bulls are persistent about pushing prices above the 1293 level.
Gold prices have been rising since late December when the market bottomed out at 1282.35. As a result of the recent string of positive days, the pair climbed above the Ichimoku clouds on the daily time frame. Basically the overall trend is up when prices are above the cloud, down when prices are below the cloud and flat when they are in the cloud itself. So speaking strictly based on the charts, there is still some room for the pair to run higher over the medium term.
If the bulls build some steam and climb above yesterday's high, the market will probably have enough momentum to test the 1307 resistance level. Closing above this level (the 50% retracement based on the bearish run from 1433.70 to 1182.35) would make me think that the 1320 level will be the next stop. However, if the bears start to dominate the market and drag prices below 1283, their next target will be the 1278 level. Once below that, the bears will be aiming for 1268.
