Gold Price Analysis: XAU/USD consolidates the drop from record highs ahead of US ISM

• XAU bulls-bear tug-of-war seen in the European session.
• Technicals point to neutral to bearish bias in the near-term.
• A bunch of healthy support levels to limit the corrective declines.

Gold (XAU/USD) has entered a phase of consolidation after eroding nearly $18 from record highs of $1988 02 reached in early Asia.

The intensifying coronavirus spread worldwide combined with the nervousness concerning US fiscal deadlock propped up the safe-haven demand for gold while the greenback stalled its recovery mode.

The spot, quickly retraced the upside and fell as low as $1970 before finding fresh bids above the latter, where it now wavers. The US dollar remains bid heading into the critical US Manufacturing PMI reports from both Market and ISM. Therefore, the XAU traders remain in a wait-and-see mode for now.

From a near-term technical perspective, the price has charted a rising wedge breakdown on the hourly chart, although the bears appear to lack follow-through. The hourly RSI has turned flat and trades at the midline.

The spot hovers below the horizontal 21-hourly Simple Moving Average (HMA) at $1775. The next cushion is aligned at the 50-HMA of $1967.

Sellers will look for entries below the 100-HMA barrier at $1960, which will be a tough nut to crack for them.

On the flip side, the bulls need to regain the 21-HMA for the further upside. The next resistance awaits the previous record high of $1984.80.

The bulls need a convincing break above the all-time-highs of $1988 to conquer the critical $2000 level.

Gold: Hourly chart

Gold: Additional levels