Early in the American session, gold is trading around 2,613 within the downtrend channel forming since December 9th after having reached a high at 2,724.

Yesterday during the Asian session, gold fell towards a low of 2,582. Since then, we have observed a strong recovery, but it is showing signs of exhaustion. Thus, it is likely that gold could resume its bearish cycle in the next few hours.

Gold left a gap at about 2,562. The odds are that in case it consolidates below 3/8 of Murray, we could expect the price to reach 2,578. It could even reach 1/8 of Murray at 2,539.

The outlook remains negative for gold as long as it trades within the downtrend channel. The instrument is expected to cover the GAP (2,562) in the short term and even reach the psychological level of $2,500.

On the other hand, with a consolidation at the break of the downtrend channel and a consolidation above the 21 SMA located at 2,637, gold could resume the bullish cycle and return to 6/8 Murray levels at about 2,634.

The Eagle indicator is showing a negative signal. So, any technical bounce below 2,640 will be seen as an opportunity to sell with the target at 2,540.