XAU/USD – Gold Dips, Markets Eye Consumer Confidence

Gold has posted losses on Thursday, erasing the gains seen in the Wednesday session. In North American trade, the spot price for one ounce is $1232.86. In economic news, unemployment claims dipped fell to 234 thousand, well short of the forecast of 249 thousand. On Friday, the major event in the US is UoM Consumer Sentiment,with an estimate of 97.9 points.

Will the Trump effect, which took America by storm, cross over to Europe? There is increasing uneasiness in the markets as populist, far-right parties are gaining support in France, the Netherlands and Germany,  threatening the old order. First up is France – the country goes to the polls in April, and Marie Le Pen, the far-right candidate in the ring, is leading in the polls ahead of the first round of voting. Le Pen is not only a strong supporter of Donald Trump, but is hoping to pull off a Trump-style upset win. Although Le Pen is not expected to win the presidency, neither was Trump. Le Pen wants to take France out of the Eurozone and has promised a referendum on France’s membership out of the European Union.

During the US election campaign, Donald Trump hammered away at the ills of the US economy, but was short on specifics as far as remedies. However, he did promise a significant fiscal boost through infrastructure spending and tax cuts. This led to a post-election euphoria in the markets and boosted the US dollar. Fast forward to February, and optimism has been replaced by caution and unease, as Trump continues to entangle himself in controversy, both with US trading partners and at home, with the media and Supreme Court. The markets are disappointed that Trump has not unveiled an economic plan or blueprint, limiting himself to protectionist rhetoric which has sent alarm bells ringing worldwide. On Wednesday, Goldman Sachs forecast that the administration won’t implement tax reform or infrastructure spending before 2018. If so, markets may have to wait a while longer before Trump puts an economy policy in place.

 

XAU/USD Fundamentals

Thursday (February 9)

  • 8:30 US Unemployment Claims. Estimate 249K. Actual 234K
  • 10:00 US Final Wholesale Inventories. Estimate 1.0%
  • 10:30 US Natural Gas Storage. Estimate -155B
  • 13:01 US 30-y Bond Auction
  • 13:10 US FOMC Member Charles Evans Speaks

Friday (February 10)

  • 10:00 US UoM Consumer Sentiment. Estimate 97.9

*All release times are EST

*Key events are in bold

 

XAU/USD for Thursday, February 9, 2017

XAU/USD February 9 at 12:35 EST

Open: 1239.77 High: 1244.54 Low: 1230.45 Close: 1232.86

 

XAU/USD Technical

S3 S2 S1 R1 R2 R3
1175 1199 1232 1260 1285 1307
  • XAU/USD was flat in the Asian and European sessions. The pair has posted losses in North American trade
  • 1232 was tested in support earlier and is a weak line
  • 1260 is a strong resistance line
  • Current range: 1232 to 1260

Further levels in both directions:

  • Below: 1232, 1199, 1174 and 1146
  • Above: 1260, 1285 and 1307

OANDA’s Open Positions Ratio

XAU/USD ratio is showing little movement in the Thursday session. Currently, long positions with a strong majority (64%), indicative of trader bias towards XAU/USD reversing directions and moving to higher levels.

Content 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 Business Information & Services, Inc. or any of its affiliates, subsidiaries, officers or directors. If you would like to reproduce or redistribute any of the content found on MarketPulse, an award winning forex, commodities and global indices analysis and news site service produced by OANDA Business Information & Services, Inc., please access the RSS feed or contact us at info@marketpulse.com. Visit https://www.marketpulse.com/ to find out more about the beat of the global markets. © 2023 OANDA Business Information & Services Inc.

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.