At the start of a brand new trading week, gold prices are trading mostly unchanged as investors wait cautiously to know about the Fed’s rate hike plan. At the time of writing, GOLD is trading at a little above $1,709.

The previous session last Friday saw the precious metal surge by as much as 1.2% after the August non-farm payroll report posted mixed figures. However, with the NFP data now out of the day, the focus shifts back to central banks and their rate hike plans in the coming weeks.

The overheating of inflation in global markets has forced several leading central banks to hike interest rates. However, with several sectors of the economy such as employment and wage growth still being weighed down by the aftereffects of the pandemic, it’s unlikely that gold will go out of favor among investors anytime soon.

Even as markets await Fed’s plans, gold remains supported on account of the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine. Latest updates on the war front indicate that Russia has halted supply of gas to European countries, a sentiment that is likely to drive up the risk-off mood and increase gold’s safe haven appeal.

Gold (XAU/USD) Technical Analysis

On the 4-hour chart of XAU/USD, we can see most of the moving averages indicating a bearish bias among traders. The momentum indicator also points to selling pressure on the precious metal.

Gold price could see some bullish action if it can break past the $1,715 level. If buyers can take out this level, we could see XAU/USD take some bids until the $1,741 level which offers resistance.