Gold (XAU/USD) Technical: Push up towards medium-term range resistance zone as Fed’s independence erodes

[Ben Graham]

The recent price actions of Gold (XAU/USD) have started to trade firmer since last Friday, 22 August, with a gain of 1%, on increased hopes that the US Federal Reserve is likely to enact its first interest rate cut of 2025 in the next month's FOMC meeting.

Fed Chair Powell’s Jackson Hole Symposium dovish speech has led traders in the Fed Funds futures market to firm up bets that the Fed is likely to cut twice in 2025 (25 basis points each), with a probability of 81% that the Fed Funds rate will be at 3.75%-4.00% on 10 December 2025 FOMC meeting at the time of writing from the current range of 4.25%-4.50%.

Lower interest rates reduce the opportunity cost of holding gold, an asset that yields no interest, thereby boosting its appeal and increasing demand, which in turn puts upward pressure on prices.

Safe haven bids extend gains for Gold over fears of Fed’s independence

In today’s early Asia session, Gold (XAU/USD) shot up by 0.6% to print a current intraday high of US$3,387, a two-week high before paring gains to 0.3% intraday at the time of writing due to safe haven demand as the independence of the US Federal Reserve gets eroded over the firing of Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook by US President Trump.

Let’s decipher the latest technical developments on Gold (XAU/USD)

Fig. 1: Gold (XAU/USD) minor trend as of 26 Aug 2025 (Source: TradingView)

Fig. 2: Gold (XAU/USD) medium-term trend as of 26 Aug 2025 (Source: TradingView)

Preferred trend bias (1-3 days)

Bullish bias within a medium-term sideways range configuration with key short-term pivotal support at US$3,352/347, with next intermediate resistances coming in at US$3,402 and US$3,432/3,435 (see Fig. 1).

Key elements

• Since the current all-time high of US$3,500 printed on 22 April 2025, the price actions of Gold (XAU/USD) have evolved into a medium-term sideways range configuration (see Fig. 2).
• The current prices of Gold (XAU/USD) have traded back above the 20-day and 50-day moving averages since last Friday, August 22, and oscillated within a minor ascending channel in place since the 31 July 2025 low of US$3,268.
• The hourly RSI momentum indicator has displayed a “higher low” right above the 50 level and has not reached its overbought region (above the 70 level). These observations suggest a potential short-term bullish momentum condition for Gold (XAU/USD).

Alternative trend bias (1 to 3 days)

A break below US$3,347 on Gold (XAU/USD) invalidates the bullish bias for another round of choppy decline towards the lower limit of the medium-term sideways range configuration, exposing the next intermediate supports at US$3,324 and US$3,310 in the first step.

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