Gold Price Analysis: XAU/USD pulls back from weekly highs, remains contained near $1820

• Spot gold prices are consolidating in the $1820 area, just below earlier weekly highs, as focus turns to US CPI.
• US yields and the US dollar are a little higher this morning, weighing on XAU/USD a tad.
• But the spot metal continues to perform well on the week, as analysts cite ongoing geopolitical uncertainty as supportive.

Spot gold (XAU/USD) prices have come off the boil following Monday’s decent push higher and are for now consolidating in the $1820 area, down about 0.1% on the session, after topping out this week around $1823. US yields have turned higher again on Tuesday and the US dollar is gaining as the euro gives back some of last week’s post-hawkish ECB gains, which isnt helpful to the precious metal, though it still trades about 0.5% up on the week.

Gold’s resilience in recent weeks to higher US yields has baffled some. “"It's hard to say exactly why gold continues to see so much support” analysts at OANDA told Reuters. “The unstable environment in the markets may be feeding some of the safe-haven appeal,” they continued, adding “it's more likely to be inflation anxiety”. Others have cited the ongoing uncertain geopolitical backdrop as Russia continues to amass troops on its border to Ukraine.

Ahead, gold traders will be closely watching the release of US Consumer Price Inflation data for January this Thursday, which is expected to show the headline YoY rate rising to 7.3%, which would be the highest since 1982. Reuters says that a “robust inflation figure could increase pressure on the Fed for faster tightening and raise the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding bullion”.