Gold Price Analysis: XAU/USD retreats to lower-half of near-term range

• XAU/USD remains under modest bearish pressure on Monday.
• Gold's near-term outlook stays neutral with a bearish bias.
• Next key support is located around $1,720 area.

The XAU/USD pair managed to post small gains last week but struggled to gather momentum on Monday with the risk-averse market environment providing a stronger boost to the greenback rather than gold. As of writing, the pair was down 0.6% on a daily basis at $1,735.

Gold technical outlook

Earlier in the session, XAU/USD dropped to the lower limit of the near-term range around $1,730 but staged a technical rebound. On the four-hour chart, the 50-period SMA is enforcing this static support and a break below that level could open the door for additional losses toward $1,720 (100-period SMA, Fibonacci 23.6% retracement of the Feb. 2-Mar. 8 downtrend).

On the upside, the initial hurdle is located at $1,740 (20-period SMA) ahead of $1,750 (static resistance) and $1,755 (Mar. 19 high).

In the meantime, the Relative Strength Index (RSI) on the same chart is staying around 50, suggesting that gold is struggling to make a decisive move in either direction at the start of the week.

Additional levels to watch for