Gold rally hits curb and faces selling pressure for the first time this week

• Gold faces a first halt for this week in its rally. 
• Bond yields are off their lows and starting to grind higher. 
• Gold attempted to break above $2,760 on Wednesday and was rejected. 

Gold's price (XAU/USD), $2,747 at the time of writing,  is seeing investors start to book some gains after a fierce three-day rally that brought over 2.0% gains. Traders are reducing their exposure to Bullion, with the US economic calendar getting ready for more data releases on Friday. Meanwhile, markets are cautious about what US President Donald Trump will say during his speech at the Davos World Economic Forum (WEF).

The data vacuum suffered lately has been ideal for Gold to rally without any big concern. That sentiment could start to change with the release of the Kansas Fed Manufacturing Activity Survey for January, ahead of the S&P Global Purchase Managers Index (PMIs) numbers on Friday.  

Daily digest market movers: US data comes in

• Barrick Gold is exploring the sale of its 50% stake in Chile's Zaldivar Copper mine, according to Bloomberg sources, as the mining giant aims to streamline its portfolio and focus on larger-scale operations, Bloomberg reports.
• At 16:00 GMT, the Kansas Fed Manufacturing Activity Index for January is set to be released. No forecast is available, with the previous number in contraction at -5.
• President Donald Trump is set to speak remotely in Davos. 
• US yields are off their lows for this week, with the US 10-year benchmark rate currently trading at 4.619%, off its poor performance seen earlier this week at 4.528%. It still has a long way to go back to the more-than-one-year high from last week at 4.807%.

Technical Analysis: Data to mess with the rally

Gold price stalls its rally on Thursday, and the US economic calendar has something to do with it. It has been a very rare few days, with the US economic calendar having been so empty since US President Donald Trump's inauguration on Monday. The vacuum in economic data was ideal for traders to enjoy this rally. Though its importance is starting to pick up on  Thursday, a correction could hit the precious metal. 

Profit-taking could broaden and push Gold's price back to $2,721, a sort of double top in November and December broken on Tuesday. Just below that, $2,709 (October 23, 2024, low) comes in focus as a second nearby support. In case both abovementioned levels snap, look for a dive back to $2,680 with a full-swing sell-off. 

Conversely, Gold is now on its way to the all-time high of $2,790, which is still over 1.4% away from current levels. Once above that, a fresh all-time high will present itself. Meanwhile, some analysts and strategists have penciled in calls for $3,000, but $2,800 looks to be a good starting point as the next resistance on the upside. 

XAU/USD: Daily Chart