Gold Price Forecast: XAU/USD approaches $4,300 after rejection at the $4,400 area

Gold (XAU/USD) slipped for the second day in a row on Tuesday, slipping below $4,320 during the European trading session as an attempt to recover from last week's low was halted at $4,400. The precious metal appears to be losing steam as the US Dollar Index (DXY) stabilizes above the critical 100.00 level, buoyed by growing expectations of Federal Reserve (Fed) interest rate hikes.

Although bullion exhibited strength last week despite the Fed's more aggressive stance during the policy meeting on Wednesday, it has been unable to sustain its upward trajectory due to the persistent rise in the USD. The rejection of the $4,400 level has reignited speculations about breaching the lower boundary of an elongated Head & Shoulders (H&S) pattern.

Technical indicators such as the Relative Strength Index (14) staying below the 50 middle line and the Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) indicator being in negative territory suggest that any rallies are likely to be restricted. The next significant support is the $4,230 area, where the August 7 and September 16 lows converge with the H&S neckline.

A break below this level could expose the $4,000 psychological barrier. Conversely, bulls must surpass the intra-week highs at $4,399 and the September 3 high of $4,510 to negate the bearish structure and redirect attention to August's peak near $4,700.