Gold Overbought Daily, Weekly, Monthly: But Does it Matter?

Gold Talking Points:

• Gold bulls have continued to push an impressive trend throughout 2024 and there was another extension of that this morning with another fresh all-time-high.
• At this point chasing fresh breakouts in gold can be seen as challenging given that it’s now showing overbought conditions on the daily, weekly and monthly charts. But – that doesn’t mean that price has to turn. Instead, the focus can shift to pullbacks of higher-low support, like what had showed around FOMC last week.

It’s been an astounding rally in gold so far in 2024 and that’s continued through another week, with the metal getting another push-higher this morning on the back of dovish Fed comments from Neel Kashkari and Austan Goolsbee. The big USD driver for this week is unveiled on Friday with the most recent release of Core PCE, often considered to be ‘the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge.’

Until then, however, there’s numerous iterations of Fed-speak, including a speech from Chair Powell on Thursday morning. Markets have high expectations for more dovish-speak as rate expectations are currently showing a 76.5% probability of at least 75 bps more in cuts by the end of the year, standing against a current 23.5% probability of 50 bps, which is what the Fed’s projections pointed to last Wednesday.

In gold, that FOMC rate decision delivered the last pullback as prices softened down to the $2550 zone of support. That didn’t last for long, however, as bulls pounced and continued to drive through last week’s close and this week’s open, setting another fresh all-time-high.

Gold Daily Price Chart

Gold Bigger Picture: Overbought Daily, Weekly, Monthly

At this point chasing gold-higher on breakouts can be a challenge. There’s been a proclivity for bulls to soften the drive on tests of resistance or at fresh highs, thereby leading to the build of a rising wedge pattern. And there’s also the matter of overbought dynamics to consider as gold is currently showing overbought readings on all of the daily, weekly and monthly chart.

That does not mean that gold has to turn, however. The monthly overbought read started way back in April and, of course, gold has continued to drive since then. The weekly overbought reading re-appeared in early-September, just as bulls were gearing up for another breakout. And the daily overbought reading showed last Friday, and this is the first time that’s happened since April. That’s when gold began to stall and range which largely held through the Q2 close and the Q3 open.

So, overbought doesn’t mean that this is ready for reversal. It does, however, highlight the challenge of chasing and instead points to pullback potential such as the scenario I was talking about ahead of the FOMC last Wednesday.

On the below chart, I’ve highlighted the two prior episodes in 2024 when daily RSI pushed into overbought territory.

Gold Daily Price Chart: Overbought for First Time Since April

Gold Shorter-Term Strategy

I had shared a zone on twitter this morning that was highlighting short-term resistance around the 2625 level. Bulls breached that on the way to fresh highs and it’s now back in the picture as short-term support, which is confluent with the trendline taken from the higher-low produced after the FOMC pullback last week. This is also what I’m considering as support side of a rising wedge formation, which is often approached with aim of bearish reversals or pullbacks in bullish trends.

I’m more interested in pullbacks at this point and that highlights the 2619 swing of prior resistance as a possible spot of support. Below that I have another prior swing of resistance-turned-support at 2614. If that can’t hold, the door is open to a 2600 re-test which is what held the highs just after the FOMC statement release last Wednesday. When bulls drove price above that level, the pullback showing after couldn’t even get down to 2600, holding at 2602 and this sets up a support zone of note for retracement scenarios this week.

Gold Hourly Price Chart

--- written by James Stanley, Senior Strategist