The gold price has rallied above the psychological $2000 level in Asian trading but surrendered some gains during European hours, trading at $2011.00 at the time of writing. The market participants are questioning the sustainability of this rally as key US data events are yet to come. Federal Reserve policymakers have been providing mixed messages, while the US Consumer Price Index (CPI) and the FOMC minutes remain crucial for the future direction of gold. The US inflation print is due later, hot on the heels of robust labor market data indicating that a rise in inflation or a significant miss of the forecast print of 5.2% could result in a fresh push to the downside for gold. Alternatively, a sign that inflation continues to soften may serve as a catalyst for a retest of the 2022 high around the $2070.00 region. From a technical perspective, gold has seen a break and continuation of the pennant pattern as it approaches recent swing highs around the $2033.00 level, indicating that a big move may be in store for the precious metal.