Gold Price Forecast: Challenging weekly highs, now what?

• Gold Price resumes its advance amid mounting tensions in Eastern Europe.
• Mixed US data had no impact on the bright metal as the focus remains on sentiment.
• XAUUSD is nearing a solid static resistance around $1,960 with a near-term bullish stance.

Gold Price nudges higher and currently trades at around $1,955, after hitting a fresh weekly high of $1,957.84 a troy ounce mid-European session. Volatility around XAUUSD increased alongside its near-term bullish potential as investors try to asset the latest developments in the Russia-Ukraine crisis. 

A sour market mood boosted demand for XAUUSD throughout the first half of the day amid headlines coming from the war front. US President Joe Biden has met with other European leaders to discuss the situation, and, alongside NATO, are preparing for a risk of Moscow launching a nuclear attack. They have also discussed assisting Ukraine with anti-ship missiles. The sentiment improved a bit on headlines signaling they would announce a major initiative to direct shipments of liquified natural gas to Europe, to replace that usually coming from sanctioned Russia.

European indexes have managed to trim most of their early losses, now trading mixed not far away from their opening levels. The bounce in EU indexes has also provided support to US ones, which are starting the day with modest losses after plummeting on Wednesday. Overall, risk-off will likely prevail as market participants see the crisis in the Old Continent steepening, without no diplomatic resolution at sight. 

Also read: XAUUSD price moves: A consequence of conflict or/and interest rate increases?

Gold Price Technical Outlook

Gold Price neared a strong static resistance level, the 38.2% retracement of the 1,799.38/2,070.50 rally at around $1,960.00. The bright metal is up for a second consecutive day, currently crossing above a mildly bullish 20 DMA. Technical indicators in the daily chart fall short of confirming a bullish continuation, as the Momentum heads lower within neutral levels, while the RSI indicator is stable at around 55.

XAUUSD turned bullish in the near term, and according to the 4-hour chart, which shows that the price is challenging bears’ determination around the 100 SMA, while the 20 SMA picks up below the current level.

Once $1,960 is cleared, the next relevant resistance level for Gold Price is $1,970.03, March 10 daily low, followed by the $1,992.00 price zone. Support levels are at the daily low of $1,937.33, and the next Fibonacci support is at $1,925.20.