The Federal Reserve held interest rates steady for the fifth consecutive meeting on Thursday, cooling market expectations for a September rate cut. This weighed on the US dollar, which hit a fresh weekly low, providing support for a gold rebound. Short-term technical indicators also suggested gold had room to extend its recovery. Trading recommendations included support at $4,070, followed by $4,040, with resistance at $4,116 and then $4,170.

Following Thursday's Asian session open, gold briefly surged to $4,100 before facing resistance. It then pulled back to $4,028, found a floor, and recovered during European trading to $4,082 before stalling. After the US session began, gold rallied further to $4,120, only to retreat to $4,083. A second attempt at $4,120 was also rejected, leading to sideways consolidation between $4,100 and $4,120 through the rest of the US session. By Friday's open, gold broke lower, refreshing the day's low at $4,050 and currently trades around $4,056. Overall, gold continued its advance on Thursday, aligning with expectations, but lacked sustained upward momentum, keeping the metal within its past month's trading range.

A Wolfinance star-rated analyst noted that gold remains stuck in its monthly range without a breakout. On one hand, the Fed's steady rate stance has cooled September cut expectations, offering periodic support. Heightened Middle East tensions are boosting safe-haven demand, while strong central bank gold buying—which hit a four-year high in Q2—provides long-term price support. On the other hand, internal Fed divisions are evident: three votes favored a rate hike at the July meeting, signaling a stronger hawkish tilt. Rising oil prices due to Middle East tensions are fueling global inflation concerns, making it hard for the Fed to pivot dovish easily. Consequently, gold's upside remains capped by still-high real interest rates.

On the daily chart, gold's rebound has stalled and reversed, keeping it in a one-month range. Key support lies at the current intraday low of $4,050, an area where prices were pressured from Tuesday's US session through Wednesday's Asian and European sessions. A break below could open the door to the $4,000 psychological level. Resistance is seen at the daily Bollinger Band middle line of $4,070, followed by the $4,100 level, where gold consolidated sideways during Thursday's US session before breaking lower on Friday. The 5-day moving average shows a faint bullish cross but is turning down. The MACD's bullish crossover is clearly slowing, the KDJ has formed a bearish cross, and the RSI's bullish cross is curving lower with a potential bearish cross ahead. This suggests that after meeting resistance, the short-term technical risk of a pullback has increased.

Gold intraday reference: After hitting a fresh weekly high, gold encountered resistance and pulled back, with prices still suppressed by high real interest rates. A range-trading approach is recommended. Resistance can be watched at $4,070 and $4,100. Support is at $4,050, and a break below could target $4,000.