[DigitalToday reporter Yoonseo Lee] Gold is retesting support near $4,650 an ounce, increasing short-term downside pressure.

On May 12, blockchain media outlet BeInCrypto reported that gold reached $4,772, its previous upside target, on the 4-hour chart before losing momentum. It is now looking for direction in a narrow price range.

The key levels are support at $4,650 and resistance at $4,800. Gold entered a correction phase after failing to break above $4,772 and is testing the $4,650 area, presented as a demand zone, for a second time. Holding this zone could reopen a move to $4,842, the long-term Fibonacci 0.382 retracement level. If it breaks, the next support zone was cited near $4,500.

On the daily chart, prices continue to converge within a symmetrical triangle. The upper boundary is $4,842 and the lower boundary is $4,376. The price recently tested the triangle's upper resistance once and then moved back down toward support, falling to around $4,609. The relative strength index (RSI) remains in neutral territory, and the Bollinger Bands width percentile, a volatility indicator, showed a balanced state around 50. As the convergence nears its endpoint, the likelihood of a breakout in either direction is increasing.

The short-term flow has turned somewhat heavy. On the 4-hour chart, the MACD is building bearish momentum as the red histogram grows. The RSI is also slipping from around the 50 line, but no clear direction has been confirmed. Market participants see $4,650 as the immediate pivot. A clean rebound there could attract bargain buying, but a strong close below it could be an additional downside signal for sellers.

The mismatch between the medium- to long-term trend and the short-term flow is also heightening market caution. An X user, Sebi, viewed gold as having shown a parabolic rise to $5,600 an ounce before entering a correction phase. Sebi analyzed that the $4,800 to $5,000 zone must be clearly recovered for the short-term bearish flow to be invalidated and for the market to shift back into an expansion phase.

Sebi said the broader macro trend remains bullish, but noted that short-term order flow is heavy. Gold prices stabilised around $4,666 after a deep liquidity sweep down to the $4,000 demand zone. Since then, lower highs have formed a wide distribution range. Sebi said additional range trading and correction could continue until the $4,800 to $5,000 cluster is firmly reclaimed.

The near-term watch points are clear. On the upside, the focus is on whether $4,800 and $4,842 are broken. On the downside, the priority is whether $4,650 holds. If $4,650 breaks, $4,500 could follow, and then $4,376 could return to view. That level is a retest zone of a downward parallel channel that was previously broken and aligns with the 0.618 retracement. If $4,842 is cleared on a closing basis, the next upside target was cited at $5,131.

It is too early to say the uptrend in the gold market has fully broken, but short-term correction signals have become clearer. In this situation, market participants are watching $4,650 and $4,800 as the lines that will determine the next direction.