Gold Price Forecast: XAU/USD bears are approaching and looking for critical support near $1,950

• Gold bears are attempting to move lower and take support after the FOMC Minutes.
• The Fed Minutes show that officials are divided on support for further hikes.

Gold price is mixed following the Federal Open Market Committee Minutes which showed board members agreed inflation risks remain unacceptably high, but officials also generally agreed the scope for further hikes is a possibility less secure. The price of Gold has ranged from a low of $1,961 to a high of $1,965, but has moved in a wider range of $1,956.77 to $1,985.39.

Overall, the Fed Minutes show that officials were split on support for more hikes. Therefore, the market has no direction.

Meanwhile, analysts at TD Securities explained that the debt ceiling headlines are loud, but there is still signal in the noise.

Gold managed to rally yesterday despite headwinds from a broad dollar rally, revealing remarkable behind-the-scenes demand. This fits with our view of an imminent depletion of precious metal sales. Indeed, we argue that the positioning setup is favorable to gold bulls, who have kept their position sizes contained, while systematic trend followers still hold a high bar for additional CTA selloffs,” the analysts explained. .

More importantly, discretionary traders have not yet entered the recovery, which is in stark contrast to the typical recessionary playbook.”

Meanwhile, pressure on the banking sector remains, with data likely to soften further and boost expectations of a deeper cut cycle on the horizon. Recent selloffs and short acquisitions may ultimately add dry powder for further price rises,” the analysts conclude.

Gold Technical Analysis

Gold price is testing the support structure, but as long as it is below the trend line of resistance, the bias is bearish:

Bears will need to break below $1,950 to confirm prospects for a continuation of the longs that have been building since March.