Gold price lacks any firm intraday direction, looks to US NFP for fresh impetus

Gold price struggle to gain any meaningful traction and oscillates in a narrow range on Friday.
Reduced bets for more aggressive policy easing by the Fed seem to cap the upside for the metal.
Traders also seem reluctant to place aggressive bets ahead of the US monthly jobs report (NFP).

Gold price (XAU/USD) extends its sideways consolidative price move for the second successive day on Friday and remains below the $2,050 level through the early European session. Traders opt to wait on the sidelines and look to the key US Nonfarm Payrolls (NFP) report for more clarity on the Federal Reserve’s future policy decisions, which, in turn, should provide a fresh directional impetus to the non-yielding yellow metal.

In the meantime, investors scotninue to scale back their expectations for more aggressive policy easing by the Fed in the wake of the upbeat US labor market reports released on Thursday. This remains supportive of elevated US Treasury bond yields and underpins the US Dollar (USD), capping gains for the Gold price. That said, the cautious market mood acts as a tailwind for the safe-haven metal status heading into the key data risk. Nevertheless, the XAU/USD remains well within the striking distance of a one-and-half-week low touched on Wednesday and seems poised to register losses for the first time in the previous four weeks.

Daily Digest Market Movers: Gold price extends the range play ahead of the US NFP report

Geopolitical risks, along with China’s economic woes, continue to weigh on investors’ sentiment and offer some support to the safe-haven Gold price on Friday.
The benchmark 10-year US Treasury yield holds steady near 4.0% amid reduced bets for multiple rate cuts by the Federal Reserve and caps the XAU/USD.
Traders trimmed expectations on the number of rate cuts by the Fed in 2024 to four from six on Wednesday following the release of the upbeat US macro data.
The Automatic Data Processing (ADP) reported on Thursday that US private-sector employers added 164K jobs in December as against 115K expected.
Adding to this, a report published by the US Department of Labor (DOL) showed that Weekly Jobless Claims fell more than expected, to 202K last week.
The US Dollar bulls, meanwhile, seem reluctant to place aggressive bets and prefer to wait for the release of the closely-watched official US monthly jobs data.
The popularly known Nonfarm Payrolls (NFP) report is expected to show that the economy added 170K new jobs in December vs 199K in the previous month.
The unemployment rate is anticipated to edge higher to 3.8% from 3.7%, while Average Hourly Earnings growth is seen easing to 3.9% YoY rate from 4.0% in November.
The crucial employment figures could guide the Fed’s near-term policy outlook, which will influence the USD and provide a fresh impetus to the non-yielding metal.

Technical Analysis: Gold price consolidates below $2,050, seems vulnerable to slide further

From a technical perspective, any subsequent move up might continue to confront stiff resistance near the $2,050-$2,048 region. The said area should now act as a key pivotal point for intraday traders, which if cleared should lift the Gold price to the next relevant hurdle near the $2,064-2,065 zone. Given that oscillators on the daily chart are still holding in the positive territory, the upward trajectory could get extended further towards the $2,077 region en route to the $2,100 round figure.

On the flip side, the weekly swing low, around the $2,030 zone, seems to protect the immediate downside. This is followed by the 50-day Simple Moving Average (SMA), currently around the $2,011-2,010 region, and the $2,000 psychological mark. A convincing break below the latter will be seen as a fresh trigger for bearish traders and set the stage for the resumption of the downtrend witnessed over the past week or so.