Gold Rally Takes Pause as Investors Look for Cues

After another week of gains, gold is trading quietly in the Monday session. In North American trade, the spot price for an ounce of gold is $1319.03, down 0.07% on the day. On the release front, it’s a quiet start to the trading week, with no major US releases.

On Friday, the US posted mixed employment numbers. Nonfarm Payrolls dropped to 148 thousand, down from 228 thousand in the previous release. This was well below the estimate of 190 thousand. There was better news from wage growth, which edged up to 0.3%, matching the forecast. This marked a 3-month high. The unemployment rate remained unchanged, at a sizzling 4.1%.

Gold prices continue to head higher, as the metal rolled off a fourth straight winning week. Gold has jumped an impressive 5.5% since December 11, despite a strong US economy and a December rate hike from the Federal Reserve. On Friday, gold touched a high of $1326, its highest level since mid-September. Risk appetite on the part of investors remains high, but for now, this has not dampened enthusiasm for gold. With the US dollar showing broad losses in recent days, gold could continue to rally.

XAU/USD Fundamentals

Monday (January 8)

• 12:40 US FOMC Member Raphael Bostic Speaks
• 13:35 US FOMC Member John Williams Speaks
• 15:00 US Consumer Credit. Estimate 17

Tuesday (January 9)

• 10:00 US JOLTS Job Openings. Estimate 6.05M

*All release times are GMT

*Key events are in bold

XAU/USD for Monday, January 8, 2018

XAU/USD January 8 at 13:05 EST

Open: 1319.86 High: 1322.18 Low: 1314.75 Close: 1318.80

XAU/USD Technical

• XAU/USD ticked lower in the Asian session but recovered in European trade. The pair is showing limited movement in North American trade
• 1307 is providing support
• 1337 is the next resistance line
• Current range: 1307 to 1337

Further levels in both directions:

• Below: 1307, 1285, 1260 and 1240
• Above: 1337, 1375 and 1416

OANDA’s Open Positions Ratio

XAU/USD ratio is showing movement towards long positions. Currently, long positions have a majority (58%), 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.