XAU/USD hits $1,814 hurdle as Omicron weighs profits

Gold (XAU/USD) shows slight gains around $1,810 on a dismal Monday morning. The yellow metal welcomed the weakening of the US dollar, as well as low Treasury yields to produce the latest gains around monthly highs, flashed on Dec. 17.

That gives The US Dollar Index (DXY) fell 0.08% to 96.10 as 10-year US Treasury yields fell 1.1 basis points (bps) to 1.482%, falling back to highs the most in two weeks reached a day before. In contrast, S&P 500 Futures are up 0.11% on the day to around 4,720 by press time. Mixed concerns about the COVID19 variant in South Africa, specifically Omicron, join with cautious optimism surrounding US President Joe Biden’s Build Back to Better (BBB) ​​plan, which promotes boost the recent risk-on mood. According to a Mastercard report, China’s industrial profits and an update from the US show an uptick in US retail sales data. However, the lack of key data/events joining the holiday mood in New Zealand, Australia, Canada and the UK seems to be holding back market movements. It should be noted that the Dallas Fed manufacturing index for December, expected at 13.2 versus 11.8 previously, could offer intermediate moves in a sluggish session expected.

A sharp rise beyond the 200DMA gives gold buyers hope of overcoming the two-month horizontal barrier around $181,416 despite the holiday mood. After that, the double tops marked in July and September around $1,834 will return to the chart before $1,850 can challenge the bulls planning a break above the November highs. is $1,877. Meanwhile, the ascending support line from August around $1,778 is added to bearish filters below the 200DMA level of $1,797. In the event that the gold bears remain dominant beyond $1,778, $1,758 could offer an intermediate stop before the quote slips to September’s low of $1,721 and the rounded figure is 1,700 dollars. In a nutshell, gold prices are bullish but have a bumpy road north.