Gold flat on Thursday, hovering near $1500

• XAU/USD holds steady amid an improvement in market sentiment. 
• Trump’s comments on US Dollar don’t impress gold that kept consolidating. 

Gold prices are modestly off multi-year highs on Thursday, trading slightly below the $1500 area. The intraday tone is bearish but so far the correction has been limited. 

The improvement in risk sentiment has not created a “profit-taking” correction in gold. As the DOW JONES gains 1% and the NASDAQ 1.57%, XAU/USD drops 0.45% and stands at $1,496/oz after bottoming at $1,490. On Wednesday, XAU/USD reached levels on top of $1,500 for the first time since 2013. It peaked at $1,510 and then pulled back. 

US President Trump said he is not thrilled with the “very strong dollar” and criticized again the Federal Reserve. His comments triggered some moves in the currency market and a very short-lived USD/JPY decline. Hold held steady. 

Levels to watch

Gold holds a strong bullish momentum and despite technical indicators in the short-term show overbought conditions, no signals of correction are seen yet. The area around $1,500 is likely to continue to be a resistance. Above the next comes at $1,510 (Aug 7 high) followed by $1,525. On the flip side, support levels might be located at $1,490 (Aug 8 low), $1,475 and $1,466.