Early in the European session, Gold (XAU/USD) is trading at around 1,769.79 with a bullish bias but showing a strong degree of exhaustion.

The last candles formed on the 4-hour chart show that gold reached a very strong resistance zone around 1,781 (+1/8 Murray).

On the chart above, we can see that it is trading below the 21 SMA. If the price falls below this level, it could reach 8/8 Murray located at 1,750 and could even fall towards the 200 EMA located at 1,694.

XAU/USD seems to be breaking the uptrend channel which has been in progress since early November but with little force. We should expect a sharp drop below 1,771 towards the support of 1,750 to confirm a likely change in trend.

On November 15, the Eagle indicator reached the extremely overbought zone. The indicator is now giving a negative signal. If gold settles firmly below 1,781 in the next few hours, it will be considered an opportunity to sell with targets at 1,750 (8/8), 1,718 (7/8) and 1,687(6/8).

Our trading plan for the next few hours is to sell below 1,771 with targets at 1,750 and the psychological level of 1,700. The eagle indicator is giving a negative signal which supports our bearish strategy.