Gold Listless as Markets Eye Jobless Claims

Gold is stable on Wednesday as the spot price stands at $1155.83. It’s another quiet day on the release front, with no major events out of the US. We’ll get a look at Unemployment Claims on Thursday, the first key event of the week.

After strong gains on Friday, gold has been uneventful this week. There have been no major releases out of the Eurozone or the US, which has contributed to the lack of movement from the metal. This could change during the remainder of the week, as the US releases unemployment claims on Thursday, followed by retail sales and consumer sentiment on Friday.

Employment numbers have been strong in the US, and this played a major role in the Fed decision to wind up QE in the last week of October. However, US Nonfarm Payrolls, the most important employment indicator, disappointed on Friday. The indicator slipped to 214 thousand, well short of the estimate of 235 thousand. On a brighter note, the unemployment rate slipped to 5.8%, its lowest level in six years. On Thursday, Unemployment Claims fell to 278 thousand. This was better than the estimate of 285 thousand and marked a three-week low.

XAU/USD for Wednesday, November 12, 2014

XAU/USD November 12 at 12:50 GMT

XAU/USD 1155.83 H: 1158.48 L: 1146.12

XAU/USD Technical

• Gold has shown limited movement in the Asian and European sessions. XAU/USD is testing resistance at 1156.
• On the upside, 1156 remains fluid and could break during the day. 1175 is next.
• 1130 is providing support.
• Current range: 1130 to 1156.

Further levels in both directions:

• Below: 1130, 1111, 1073 and 1041
• Above: 1156, 1175, 1200, 1215 and 1240

OANDA’s Open Positions Ratio

XAU/USD ratio is unchanged on Wednesday. This is consistent with the pair’s movement, as gold is showing little movement. The ratio has a majority of long positions, indicative of trader bias in favor of gold moving higher.

XAU/USD Fundamentals

• 8:00 US FOMC Member Charles Plosser Speaks.
• 15:00 US Wholesale Inventories. Estimate 0.3%.
• 17:00 US FOMC Member Narayana Kocherlakota Speaks.
• 18:01 US 10-year Bond Auction.

*Key releases are highlighted in bold

*All release times are GMT

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.