GOLD PRICE FORECAST: XAU/USD RECOVERS EARLY LOST GROUND, CLIMBS BACK ABOVE $1,970 LEVEL

Gold price reverses an intraday fall to the $1,950 zone, or a four-day low touched earlier this Monday and builds on its intraday ascent through the first half of the European session. The XAU/USD is currently placed near the top end of its daily trading range, just above the $1,970 level, though the lack of follow-through buying warrants some caution for aggressive bullish traders.

The emergence of fresh US Dollar selling benefits Gold price

The US Dollar (USD) surrenders its intraday gains to a one-week high amid the uncertainty over the Federal Reserve's (Fed) rate-hike path and turns out to be a key factor driving flows towards the US Dollar-denominated Gold price. It is worth recalling that the Fed had signalled recently that it might soon pause the rate-hiking cycle in the wake of the turmoil in the banking sector. The bets were reaffirmed by the release of the Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) Price Index data from the United States (US) on Friday, which pointed to cooling inflation. Investors, however, seem worried that a surprise production cut by major oil producers will push inflation higher and force the Fed to move back to its inflation-fighting rate hikes.