Gold was steady below the key psychological $1,200 level on Tuesday morning ahead of monthly US jobs data scheduled for release on Friday.
The spot gold price was last at $1,187/1,187.9 per ounce, up $9.30 on the previous session’s close and off earlier five-week lows. Trade has ranged from $1,185.8 to $1,190.4 so far.
Most participants will remain on the sidelines of the market ahead of Friday’s blockbuster US non-farm payroll data, which is forecast at 231,000 in in April after an unusually weak reading of 126,000 in March.
The data may provide clues on when the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates. Following some soft US numbers and the central bank’s shift to a data-dependent stance of monetary policy, the current market consensus for the first rise in interest rates since 2008 has shifted back to the second half of this year.
“A reading below consensus may delay rate hike expectations and provide a boost for gold while a reading above consensus may weigh on bullion… All the employment reports so far this year have had a notable impact on near-term gold direction,” HSBC analyst James Steel said.
“A weak print could see gold push above $1,200,” ANZ Research added.
Yesterday, Federal Bank of Chicago president Charles Evans said the Fed should delay its interest rate lift-off until there is enough confidence that the economy has enough momentum to warrant rate increases.
In currencies, the euro was last at 1.1110 against the dollar, down more than four-fifths of a cent – the greenback has reacted positively to the previous day’s US factory orders, which at 2.1 percent increased at their fastest pace in eight months.
“Gold seems to be content for now to take its lead from other drivers (US dollar, treasuries, data) and with positioning nothing out of the ordinary, it is tough to anticipate any aggressive moves one way or the other in the near term,” MKS said.
“Asian buying still seems to loosely support the down-side on dips and bears seem reluctant to chase it lower, with the reverse is true for rallies, so for the interim it seems we play the range with a slight downward bias,” MKS added.
Data from the EU on Monday was mixed. While the Spanish and French final manufacturing PMIs undershot, the Italian and German numbers were better than forecast and the final EU manufacturing PMI at 52.0 beat the predicted 51.9. EU Sentix investor confidence at 19.6 was better the consensus 19.5.
In today’s numbers, Spain’s unemployment change at -118,900 was better than expected but the EU PPI underperformed at 0.2 percent. The US trade balance, final services PMI and IBD/TIPP economic optimism are due later but non-farm payroll data on Friday will be the main event alongside Chinese trade balance numbers.
In the other metals, silver was last at $16.35/16.40 per ounce, up 23 cents. Platinum at $1,141/1,146 was $15 higher and palladium at $779/784 was up $8.
(Editing by Mark Shaw)
The post Gold price steady below $1,200/oz, US payrolls at forefront appeared first on The Bullion Desk.
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