Gold Ticks Lower as JOLTS Jobs Openings Slips

Gold has started the week with small losses. In North American trade, the spot price for an ounce of gold is $1246.45, down 0.14% on the day. On the release front, JOLTS Openings softened to 6.00 million, shy of the estimate of 6.03 million. On Tuesday, the US releases the Producer Price Index, an important inflation indicator.

US employment numbers were a mixed bag on Friday. Nonfarm Employment Change softened in November, dropping to 228 thousand. Still, this reading easily beat the estimate of 198 thousand. However, Average Hourly Earnings, which measures wage growth, came in at 0.2%, shy of the estimate of 0.3%. Despite a red-hot labor market which is running at full capacity, wage growth has been stubbornly low. Various sectors in the economy are reporting a lack of workers, leaving analysts unable to answer why this hasn’t triggered stronger wage growth. On an annual basis, wages rose 2.5%, short of the forecast of 2.7%. The Federal Reserve is also concerned with the lack of wage growth, and this could have a significant effect on monetary policy – if wage growth and inflation shows improvement in 2018, the Fed could raise rates up to three times in 2018. The markets are expecting the Fed to hike rates, with CME pricing in a rate increase in December and January at 90% and 88%, respectively.

XAU/USD Fundamentals

Monday (December 11)

• 10:00 US JOLTS Job Openings. Estimate 6.03M. Actual 6.00M
• 13:01 US 10-y Bond Auction

Tuesday (December 12)

• 8:30 US PPI. Estimate 0.4%
• 8:30 US Core PPI. Estimate 0.2%

*All release times are GMT

*Key events are in bold

XAU/USD for Monday, December 11, 2017

XAU/USD December 11 at 12:15 EST

Open: 1247.08 High: 1251.42 Low: 1245.72 Close: 1246.45

XAU/USD Technical

• XAU/USD was flat in the Asian session. The pair posted slight gains in European trade but has retracted in the North American session
• 1240 is providing support
• 1260 is the next resistance line
• Current range: 1240 to 1260

Further levels in both directions:

• Below: 1240, 1213 and 1188
• Above: 1260, 1285, 1307 and 1337

OANDA’s Open Positions Ratio

In the Monday session, XAU/USD ratio is showing long positions with a majority (74%). This is indicative of trader bias towards XAU/USD reversing directions and moving to higher ground.

This article is for general information purposes only. It is not investment advice or a solution to buy or sell securities. Opinions are the authors; not necessarily that of OANDA Corporation or any of its affiliates, subsidiaries, officers or directors. Leveraged trading is high risk and not suitable for all. You could lose all of your deposited funds.