Gold weakened against the American dollar for a third session on Thursday but the trading range was relatively tight. It appears that better than estimated U.S. data and gains in U.S. equities dulled the shiny metal's attractiveness. According to the Labor Department's data the number of first-time applicants for jobless benefits dropped 26K to 319K. Although we have bearish pressure from strong global equities markets and improving U.S. economic data -which encourage Fed to turn down the tap on its monthly asset purchases-, the uncertainty in Ukraine is affecting investors' sentiment.
By the time of writing, the XAU/USD pair is almost at where it was yesterday, still trying to hold above the Ichimoku clouds on the 4-hour chart. Since both the daily chart and 4-hour chart are giving mixed signals, I will be watching the area between 1295 and 1283. In order to launch an attack to the 1300 level where the Kijun-sen line (twenty six-day moving average, green line) currently resides on the daily time frame, the bulls will have to push the prices above 1295. Beyond 1300, the bears will be waiting at the 1307 resistance level. However, if the downward pressure increases and prices break below the 1283 support level, the pair will most likely head for the next support at 1277. A close below that would open the doors to 1268.
