CME Group’s flash data for gold futures markets noted traders trimmed their open interest positions by around 4.3K contracts after two consecutive daily builds on Thursday. Volume followed suit and shrank for the second session in a row, now by around 11.3K contracts.

Gold faces the next up barrier above $1950

Thursday’s small downtick in gold prices came in tandem with shrinking open interest and volume, which removes strength from a sustained pullback and exposes the resumption of the prevailing bullish trend. Next on the upside for the precious metal emerges the provisional 100-day SMA at $1954 per troy ounce.