Gold Market Trend Analysis:

On August 18th, gold experienced an overall significant decline last week. Following a gradual bull run in the prior week, Monday opened with a sharp drop of over $60. Although Tuesday and Wednesday saw minor rebounds, Thursday closed with another large bearish candle, while Friday traded within a narrow range. The weekly chart ultimately closed as a large bearish candle, forming a clear bearish engulfing pattern.

For the medium-term outlook on gold, we maintain our recent perspective unchanged: under the pressure of the monthly doji candle, any rally serves as distribution and preparation for a more substantial decline. For bearish targets, short-term focus should be on breaks below the 3330, 3315, 3300, and 3270 areas, with ultimate targets pointing toward 3245 and 3150-3120 regions. Should these areas break, we would look further toward the 3000-2950 range, which corresponds to the tariff-related rally starting point.

However, the short-term market has reached a critical long-short area. The current focus is whether we see a short-term rebound followed by another decline, or a direct break below key support levels. This point was emphasized in our weekend video analysis. During today's early session, gold quickly broke below 3330, reaching a low near 3324 before rallying, creating an obvious short-term piercing pattern. The 0.618 Fibonacci level is located around 3322, making the rally from this area a normal occurrence. Our weekend analysis also emphasized the importance of the 3322 area as short-term support.

From the current market perspective, gold shows clear signs of short-term bottoming, with bulls beginning to strengthen. Whether today will see a significant rally remains uncertain, but a major decline appears unlikely unless we break below today's low of 3324 again. The 4-hour candle closing at 10 AM formed a large bullish engulfing pattern, making a break below the 3324-3322 area more challenging under these circumstances. Should an unexpected break occur, attention should focus on the 3315 area emphasized in our weekend video, the 3300 major level, and the trend support formed by the connecting line between 3120 and 3268. On the upside, short-term resistance is mainly concentrated around 3350, which can be viewed as the long-short dividing line. Above that lies the 3370-3375 region, with the 3360 area also worth monitoring.

The early session's quick dip followed by recovery ensures that intraday action will likely maintain a volatile sweeping pattern. Declines won't be smooth, as key levels will encounter bull resistance. Similarly, key resistance levels will also experience varying degrees of selling pressure. Therefore, operationally, before a break below the 3324-3322 area, focus on buying dips. If broken, consider going long at the 3315 area or the 3300 major level. On the upside, consider shorting once before a break above 3350, then again when encountering resistance in the 3370-3375 zone. This morning, we promptly closed our short positions from last Friday's 3348 area at the 3328 level. We currently hold two short positions established above 3400.