Now that the bullion is back above the $1,800 psychological level, it looks like the prices could at least retain a bullish bias in the near term, with the next upside target arriving at $1,816 where the 20-DMA lies.

The yellow metal received a boost from a weaker dollar. The safe-haven greenback came under selling pressure as risk sentiment keeps improving since last Friday, with Wall Street indexes correcting north following the recent sell-off that had hit tech equities the most. The USD index has retreated from fresh mid-2020 tops to settle below the 97.00 figure. On Tuesday, the index is challenging the 96.40 support zone, a break below which would pave the way towards the 96.00 level.

The bullion is yet to confirm a bounce

However, it looks like the downside potential surrounding the US currency would be limited. The prices can resume the ascent after a local bearish correction that should attract buyers. So far, the greenback struggles around the mentioned lows, which implies that XAUUSD could hold above $1,800 in the immediate term. However, the metal is yet to confirm the recent bounce on a daily closing basis.

As US stock index futures turned lower in early pre-market trading, risk sentiment could deteriorate later in the day. In this scenario, the dollar would at least trim intraday losses during the North American trading, thus pushing gold prices lower from the current levels. While the $1,800 figure represents the immediate support, the next barrier for gold bears arrives at $,1795 where the mentioned 100-DMA lies.

Adding to investor concerns were fears of the Russia-Ukraine war and US-China trade tensions after US officials said that "patience wearing thin" in trade talks with China. Furthermore, the US Commerce Department announced restrictions on transactions with 33 Chinese organizations whose ownership is deemed to be “unverified”.

Market sentiment had improved since then but was hurt ahead of the weekend after fresh economic data out of the United States showed consumer prices surged 7.5% last month on a year-over-year basis, exceeding estimates of 7.3%. Adding to a more downbeat tone, Fed’s Bullard said he now wanted a full percentage point of interest rate hikes by July 1.

Brent exceeds $95 for the first time since 2014

At the start of the week, the price of Brent rose to $94/bbl for the first time since 2014 before retreating. Then, the futures extended the correction to the levels just below the $90 handle that helped cap the downside and pushed the prices above $95 ahead of the weekend for the first time since October 2014.

As for industry news, the Energy Information Administration reported that US crude inventories fell by 4.8 million barrels last week. The agency also reported weekly inventory declines of 1.6 million barrels for gasoline and 900,000 barrels for distillates. A day earlier, the American Petroleum Institute reported that crude supplies fell by 2 million barrels.

In a wider picture, the market positioning shows there is room for more gains towards the $100 psychological level within the ongoing bullish cycle, as the market has been supported by a combination of robust global demand and shrinking global spare production capacity along with declining inventory levels.

Cryptos follow equity markets

Buyer demand in the cryptocurrency market reemerged amid a recovery in US equity markets. Wall Street indexes bounced to finish higher overnight amid the oversold conditions. In a sign that risk sentiment keeps improving gradually, European stocks opened higher on Tuesday. However, as geopolitical uncertainty in Eastern Europe remains elevated and could escalate at any point, investors stay alert. In other words, the downside pressure in the global financial markets could reemerge at any point and thus push bitcoin lower as well.

BTCUSD needs to cling to $36,000 in order to avoid deeper losses in the near term. On the upside, a decisive recovery above the mentioned local highs would pave the way towards the $40,000 psychological level strengthened by the descending 20-DMA. However, it looks like the path of least resistance remains to the downside for the time being.

Bitcoin could get revisit the $33,000 figure in the short term to notch fresh multi-month lows before reversing north. On the downside, the immediate support now arrives at $35,000, followed by $33,000. Should the prices fail to hold above this level, the $30,000 mark will come back into the market focus. Of note, the intermediate support zone is represented by the ascending 100-week SMA, currently at $31,600. This region could prevent BTC from deeper losses if the potential bearish pressure appears to be measured.

Chinese stocks posted their biggest daily drop since July last year while Japan's Nikkei 225 dipped to the lowest level since December 2020. The deteriorated further after Jerome Powell signaled the Federal Reserve will steadily remove support for the economy as it battles the elevated inflation. The central bank chief said he backs a March liftoff and won’t rule out a hike every meeting.

Brent briefly derails $90 for the first time in seven years

Oil prices surged to fresh multi-year highs, derailing the $90 handle for the first time since October 2014 highs before retreating amid some profit-taking. As a result, Brent crude finished the week unchanged to settle just below the $89 figure.

The market is now driven by limited supply (amid OPEC’s underproduction) coupled with the geopolitical crisis in Eastern Europe. Also, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said earlier in the week that petroleum consumption increased in the country. Global oil demand has held resilient during the Omicron wave, adding to the upbeat tone in the oil market. Of note, earlier this month, the International Energy Agency revised higher its 2022 demand growth estimate by 200,000 barrels per day.

Brent crude has been rising since November, pushing banks to revise their forecasts higher. As such, now Goldman expects the price of oil to reach $100 per barrel in the third quarter of 2022, citing high demand despite a surge in COVID-19 cases driven by the Omicron variant.