Gold on a Slippery Slope

• Gold tries to enter Ichimoku cloud
• Prices stand in short-term sideways move
• Momentum oscillators lose steam

Gold prices are currently capped by the 20- and the 50-day simple moving averages (SMAs), remaining within the short-term consolidation area of 2,277 and 2,431.

In the near-term, the market could maintain a sideways move if the RSI keeps moving beneath 50 and the blue Kijun-sen line, hold flat. Regarding the trend, this is likely to remain on the downside as the MACD continues to lose strength below its trigger line and near the zero level.

If the commodity weakens, the 2,277 level could provide immediate support ahead of the 2,245 Fibonacci extension level of the down leg from 2,079 to 1,810. Even lower, the 2,222 barrier could attract greater attention as any leg lower could worsen the market’s bearish outlook, opening the way towards the 2,195 mark.

If there is an extension to the upside and above the short-term SMAs as well as the Ichimoku lines, resistance could run towards the 2,431 hurdle, which is the upper level of the trading range. Steeper increases could also reach the record high of 2,450.

Regarding the near-term picture, neutral sentiment deteriorated after the downfall from 2,431 and only a move above the all-time high could now help the market to return to a positive mode.

To summarize, gold looks neutral in the short-term, while in the long-term the picture is seen as bullish unless the price breaks below the 200-day SMA at 2.082.