But lower highs over the last few days and the 1300 level loom ahead.
Gold is up about $2 today to $1268.79. The high reached 1270. The low stalled around 1257. We are trading more toward the high.
Looking at gold from a technical perspective, the price has been moving higher since the early part of July (lower dollar has helped - see daily chart above). In the process, the precious metal moved back above the 200 (green line) and 100 day MAs (blue line) at 1229.28 and 1252.83 res[ectively (those are the current levels). That is more bullish. The pair also moved above the midpoint of the move down from the July 2016 high at 1248.14. That too is bullish.
The high this week stalled at 1274.20, short of the 61.8% retracement at 1278.13. The $1300 level also is a key level to get to and through. The June high stalled near that key natural level.
Overall, the daily chart is showing bullish life with hurdles ahead.
Drilling to the hourly chart (see chart below), the technical picture passed a key test to the bullishness. Looking at the chart below, the price moved below the 100 and 200 hour MAs in trading today. Those were the first looks below the 200 hour MA since July 14th. However, a lower trend line stalled the fall at the 1257 area, and the price rebounded higher. The pair has re-taken the 200 hour MA at 1261.74 and the 100 hour MA at 1267.87. We currently trade at 1268.79.
Like the daily chart, the not so great technical news is the lows over the last two days have been lower.
Nevertheless, stay above the MAs at 1267.87 and 1261.74, and the nod continues in the bulls favor. If those levels are taken out, the waters turn a little more bearish on each break.
SUMMARY: Gold looks ok, but there are key upside levels above that need to be breached (highlighted by 1300), and the bias can shift on a bigger rotation lower (i.e through the hourly MAs and the lower trend line on the hourly chart). For now, the buyers/bulls hold the advantage.
