Technically, the $2,600 round - number level, which is also the all - time high reached on Wednesday, may present some resistance before the $2,613 - 2,615 zone. This $2,613 - 2,615 zone represents the upper edge of a short - term ascending trend channel that has been in existence since June and should function as a crucial pivot. Since the oscillators on the daily chart are firmly in positive territory and are still far from the overbought area, a continuous strength above this mentioned level will be considered a new incentive for the bulls and will prepare for a further short - term upward movement of the gold price.
On the contrary, the $2,551 - 2,550 area currently seems to guard against the immediate downward movement before the $2,532 - 2,530 horizontal resistance break - point. Some continuous selling could expose the psychological level of $2,500. If the gold price drops below this level, it could speed up its decline towards the $2,476 convergence point, which consists of the 50 - day Simple Moving Average (SMA) and the lower edge of the channel. A definite break below this point will imply that the XAU/USD has peaked in the near - term, leading to a decline towards the 100 - day SMA, around the $2,412 area, on the way to the $2,400 mark.