Gold has been in a downtrend in the weekly price for three consecutive weeks as the US makes continued efforts to curb inflation.

On Monday, the opening price was 1,846.02 with a daily uptrend.

Investing.com’s Ambar Warrick on Monday reported that: “Gold prices hovered around a six-week low on Monday, moving little as traders awaited more cues on US monetary policy from a slew of Federal Reserve speakers this week, as well as the minutes of the central bank’s February meeting.

“Gold marked three straight weeks of losses, falling sharply from a nine-month high hit earlier this year as overheated inflation readings and signs of strength in the US jobs markets indicated that the Federal Reserve had enough impetus to keep raising interest rates in the near-term.

“Markets are now uncertain over where US interest rates will peak this year, with some analysts positing a potential terminal rate of over six per cent.

“Rising interest rates boost US Treasury yields, which in turn increase the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding assets such as gold. The yellow metal had plummeted in 2022 as the Fed embarked on an aggressive rate hike spree to curb inflation.

“But stubborn inflation readings for January showed that the central bank still needed to hike rates further, with recent comments from Fed officials suggesting as much.”

With such fundamentals, PP Link Securities business manager Chhea Chhayheng says that, based on the technical view, gold’s support zone in the weekly downtrend was around $1,820 per ounce.

The yellow metal’s sustained trading was below the average prices, at around $1,854 per ounce, signalling where traders could take an opportunity to focus on the sell position.

“If the downtrend price breaks the support zone, prices around $1,820 per ounce could be the starting point for a move towards $1,786, last November’s high.

“The fears of higher Fed interest rates and no rate cuts in 2023 could underpin the US dollar and further weigh on gold prices,” Chhayheng says.