• Gold price attracts some buyers for the second successive day amid modest USD weakness.
• Retreating US bond yields drags the USD away from a nearly three-month top set last week.
• Hawkish Fed expectations should limit the USD losses and cap the upside for the XAU/USD.

Gold price gains some positive traction for the second successive day on Tuesday and climbs to the $1,925-$1,926 area during the Asian session, or over a two-week high touched the previous day.

The ongoing decline in the US Treasury bond yields drags the US Dollar (USD) further away from a nearly three-month top, which, in turn, is seen driving some flows towards the Gold price. In fact, the yield on the benchmark 10-year US government bond is seen extending its pullback from the highest level since November 2007 set last week and keeps the USD bulls on the defensive. That said, rising bets for more interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve (Fed) should limit the downside for the US bond yields and the USD.

The expectations were reaffirmed by Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s hawkish remarks on Friday, saying that the central bank may need to tighten the monetary policy further to curb sticky inflation. Moreover, a resilient US economy could force the Fed to continue with its rate-hiking cycle for longer. This might hold back bulls from placing aggressive bets around the non-yielding Gold price and warrants caution before positioning for an extension of the recent recovery from the $1,885 region, or the lowest level since March 13.

Traders might also prefer to wait on the sidelines ahead of this week’s key US macro data, including the closely-watched monthly employment details on Friday, which should provide a fresh directional impetus to the Gold price. In the meantime, worries about the worsening economic conditions in China might continue to act as a tailwind for the safe-haven XAU/USD and help limit any corrective decline. Traders now look to the Conference Board US Consumer Confidence Index and JOLTS Job Openings data for short-term opportunities.

Technical levels to watch

XAU/USD