Gold Listless Ahead of JOLTs Employment Report

Gold remains close to the key $1200 level, as the spot price stands at $1206.68 on Tuesday. On the release front, today’s highlight is JOLTS Job Openings. The markets are expecting an improvement in the October release, with an estimate of 4.81M.

The US ended the week with a superb Nonfarm Payrolls report, as the indicator shot up to 321 thousand in November, stunning the markets which had expected a rise of 231 thousand. There was also a rise in wages, which should translate into stronger inflation numbers. The unemployment rate held steady at 5.8%, matching the forecast. The excellent Nonfarm Payrolls should help the Fed remain on course for a rate hike in the first half of 2015.

Last week, ECB head Mario Draghi announced a “wait and see” approach to stimulus, saying that he had no plans to implement quantitative easing for the time being and that the ECB would review its stimulus program in early 2015. The euro shot up about 130 points following the news, although it later gave back some of these gains. The ECB also downgraded its forecasts for growth and inflation, and if the Eurozone economy fails to improve, there is a reasonable likelihood that the ECB will embark on the QE route. Meanwhile, there was some unexpected good news from Germany on Friday, as Factory Orders climbed 2.5% in October, marking a three-month high. This is easily beat the forecast of a 0.6% gain.

XAU/USD for Tuesday, December 9, 2014

XAU/USD December 9 at 10:35 GMT

XAU/USD 1206.68 H: 1307.86 L: 1199.35

 

XAU/USD Technical

S3 S2 S1 R1 R2 R3
1156 1175 1200 1215 1240 1255

 

  • XAU/USD continues to trade near the 1200 line, which is currently a weak support level. 1175 is stronger.
  • 1215 is an immediate resistance line. 1240 is next.
  • Current range: 1200 to 1215.

Further levels in both directions:

  • Below: 1200, 1175, 1156, 1130 and 1111
  • Above: 1215, 1240, 1255 and 1275

 

OANDA’s Open Positions Ratio

XAU/USD ratio is pointing to gains in long positions on Tuesday. This is consistent with the pair’s movement, as gold has posted small gains. The ratio is made up of a majority of long positions, indicative of trader bias towards gold moving higher.

XAU/USD Fundamentals

  • 12:30 US NFIB Small Business Index. Estimate 96.6 points.
  • 15:00 US JOLTS Job Openings. Estimate 4.81M.
  • 15:00 US IBD/TIPP Economic Optimism. Estimate 47.2 points.
  • 15:00 US Wholesale Inventories. Estimate 0.1%.

*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.

Kenny Fisher

Kenny Fisher

Market Analyst at OANDA
A highly experienced financial market analyst with a focus on fundamental analysis, Kenneth Fisher’s daily commentary covers a broad range of markets including forex, equities and commodities. His work has been published in several major online financial publications including Investing.com, Seeking Alpha and FXStreet. Based in Israel, Kenny has been a MarketPulse contributor since 2012.