• Gold price enters a bullish consolidation phase near the all-time peak touched on Wednesday.
• Bets for more Fed rate cuts keep the USD bulls on the defensive and underpin the commodity.
• Concerns over the US/China economic outlook and geopolitical risks also benefit the XAU/USD.

Gold price (XAU/USD) regained positive traction on Thursday and rallied back closer to the all-time peak touched the previous day in reaction to the Federal Reserve's (Fed) decision to start the policy easing cycle with an oversized rate cut. Expectations of further rate cuts by the US central bank attracted fresh US Dollar (USD) selling and turned out to be a key factor that benefited the non-yielding yellow metal. 

Apart from this, concerns over a slowdown in the United States (US) and China – the world's two largest economies – and persistent geopolitical risks provided an additional boost to the Gold price. That said, the risk-on rally across the global equity markets keeps a lid on any further upside for the safe-haven XAU/USD and leads to subdued range-bound price action during the Asian session on Friday. 

Nevertheless, Gold price, at current levels, remains on track to end in the green for the second straight week. Moreover, the fundamental backdrop seems tilted in favor of bullish traders and supports prospects for an extension of the commodity's well-established uptrend. Traders now look to the crucial Bank of Japan (BoJ) policy update, which might infuse volatility and provide some impetus to the XAU/USD.