• Gold price continues with its struggle to gain any meaningful traction on Friday.
• Reduced bets for an aggressive Fed policy easing cap the upside for the metal.
• Traders prefer to wait for next week’s US inflation data before placing fresh bets.

Gold price (XAU/USD) fails to build on the overnight bounce from the $2,020 region and oscillates in a familiar trading range during the Asian session on Friday. Growing acceptance that the Federal Reserve (Fed) will keep interest rates higher for longer in the wake of a still resilient US economy continues to act as a headwind for the non-yielding yellow metal. Apart from this, the prevalent risk-on environment is seen as another factor capping the upside for the safe-haven commodity.

The downside for the Gold price, however, remains cushioned amid the uncertainty over the timing and the pace of rate cuts by the Fed in 2024. Despite the recent hawkish comments by several FOMC members, including Fed Chair Jerome Powell, investors are still pricing in five rate cuts over the course of the seven remaining FOMC policy meetings this year. This keeps the US Dollar (USD) bulls on the defensive below the highest level in almost three months and lends support to the XAU/USD.

Traders also seem reluctant to place aggressive directional bets and prefer to wait for next week's release of the US consumer inflation figures, which will play a key role in influencing the Fed's future policy decisions. This will play a key role in driving the USD demand in the near term and provide some meaningful impetus, which should allow the Gold price to break through a multi-week-old trading range. In the meantime, the XAU/USD could extend the range bound price action