Technical analysis by Jaycez about Symbol PAXG: Buy recommendation (3/2/2024)

Gold price soars to a new year-to-date high of $2,088.33 in Friday’s North American session, following the release of mixed economic data, as S&P Global revealed the economy in the United States is expanding. On the other hand, the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) reported that manufacturing activity is contracting, overshadowing the first report. The XAU/USD exchanges hands at $2,084.89, up more than 2.3%.On Friday, S&P Global revealed that manufacturing conditions improved at the fastest pace since July 2022. The Manufacturing PMI for February was 52.2, up from 50.7. Chris Williamson, Chief Business Economist at S&P Global, said, “Manufacturing is showing encouraging signs of pulling out of the malaise that has dogged the goods-producing sector over much of the past two years.”Later, the ISM February Manufacturing PMI came to 47.8, down from 49.1. Timothy Fiore, Chair of the Institute for Supply Management, noted, “The U.S. manufacturing sector continued to contract (and at a faster rate compared to January), with demand slowing, output easing and inputs remaining accommodative.”The data sponsored a leg up in Gold prices after US Treasury bond yields plunged on expectations that rate cuts could arrive sooner than expected.That said, XAU/USD prices embarked on an aggressive rally, hitting a new YTD high of $2,087.45 as US Treasury bond yields tumbled. The US 10-year Treasury bond yield dropped five and a half basis points (bps) to 4.197%, while real yields measured by 10-year Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities (TIPS) yield, falling from 1.934% to 1.878%. All of this weighed on the US Dollar (USD).Technical analysis: Gold soars as buyers eye $2,100Gold is rallying sharply on its way toward the $2,100.00 figure. It cleared several key resistance levels, like the $2,050 psychological level and the February 1 high at $2,065.60. Nevertheless, it meanders within the $2,065-$2,090 area as buyers take a breather ahead of testing the all-time high of $2,146.79.On the flip side, XAU/USD’s first support is $2,065.60, followed by the $2,050 mark. Once cleared, Gold’s next floor would be the February 16 swing low of $2,016.15 and the October 27 daily high-turned-support at $2,009.42. Once cleared, that will expose key technical support levels like the 100-day SMA at $2,009.42, followed by the 200-day SMA at $1,968.00.