Gold futures fluctuated in a tight range sloping upward during the Asian session as the US dollar index rose for the fourth session in six sessions from its lowest since February 4 according to the inverse relationship between them on the eve of developments and economic data expected on Wednesday by the US economy, which includes the talk of a member of the Federal Open Market Committee and the head of Kansas City Federal Reserve St George in New York.
Gold futures for June delivery rose 0.05% to currently trade at $1,315.90 per ounce compared to the opening at $1,315.40 per ounce, while the dollar index rose 0.13% to 96.91, the highest since March 13, compared to the opening at 96.75.
Investors are currently waiting for the US economy to release the current account reading, which may reflect a widening deficit to $130 billion versus $125 billion in the third quarter, in conjunction with the disclosure of the trade balance, which may reflect a contraction of the deficit to $57.2 billion versus $59.8 billion in December.
The Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas Federal Reserve Chairman and the member of the Federal Open Market Committee, Esther George, on the economic outlook and monetary policy at the event hosted by New York University fund-raisers hours after the FOMC meeting on March 19-20. Federal funds were kept at between 2.25% and 2.50%.
Technical analysis:
Gold is trading near the support of the bullish intraday channel. The SMA 50 meets the support of this channel to protect the resumption of trading within it while Stochastic offers a positive cross signal now on the four-hour time frame.
Therefore, these factors encourage us to expect a resumption of the uptrend during the coming sessions targeting 1346.73 as the next major station noting stability above 1302.60 is an important condition for the continuation of the expected rally.
The trading range for today is among the key support at 1305.00 and resistance at 1335.00.
The general trend for today is bullish.