• Gold price challenges all-time peak and draws support from a combination of factors.
• Expected rate cuts by major central banks and geopolitical risks boost the XAU/USD.
• Bulls seem rather unaffected by the recent USD rally, to its highest level since August. 

Gold price (XAU/USD) built on its uptrend witnessed over the past week or so and retested the all-time high on Wednesday amid the expected interest rate cuts by major central banks. Traders have fully priced in a 25 basis points (bps) interest rate cut by the US Federal Reserve (Fed) in November. Furthermore, weak inflation data from Europe and the UK have solidified bets for a more aggressive policy easing by the European Central Bank (ECB) and the Bank of England (BoE). This led to generally lower yields, which, in turn, continued to offer support to the non-yielding yellow metal. 

Apart from this, persistent geopolitical risks stemming from the ongoing conflicts in the Middle East turn out to be another factor underpinning demand for the safe-haven Gold price. Meanwhile, growing acceptance that the Fed will proceed with modest interest rate cuts over the next year lifted the US Dollar (USD) to its highest level since early August and beyond the 100-day Simple Moving Average (SMA) for the first time since July. This, in turn, might hold back traders from placing fresh bullish bets around the XAU/USD and cap the upside ahead of US macro data due later this Thursday.