• Gold has a cautious start to the new year

• Technical signals weaken but need confirmation

Gold opened the new year with mild losses after its bullish attempts to close above the May 2023 bar of 2,079 proved fruitless in the last week of December.

The price is currently trading muted slightly below the 23.6% Fibonacci retracement of the previous upleg at 2,065 but there is still a ray of hope for another upturn. The RSI is still clearly above its 50 neutral mark despite losing some ground, while the stochastic oscillator is a short distance above its 20 oversold level, suggesting that any additional declines might stall soon.

Should the bears breach the current support area of 2,058, the 20-day exponential moving average (EMA) could immediately add a footing around 2,040. If not, the sell-off might intensify towards the 38.2% Fibonacci mark of 2,017 and the 50-day EMA, where the tentative ascending line from the October 2023 low is positioned. Additional losses from there could press the precious metal towards the 50% Fibonacci of 1,977.

Alternatively, a move back above 2,065 will struggle for a close above the 2,079 border. Slightly higher, the 2,100 number could be of psychological importance, while the resistance line from September 2023 at 2,120 will be closely watched before all the attention turns to the record high of 2,144.