• Gold on Friday slipped from the one-month high it touched in the previous session, with traders waiting for US jobs data later in the day for clues on the pace of possible US interest rate hikes this year.
Spot gold eased 0.2% to $1,178.41 per ounce by 8.25am. The metal on Thursday hit its highest since 5 December at $1,184.90. US gold futures were also down 0.2%, at $1,179 per ounce.
• “We can see a bit of profit-taking ahead of the non-farm payroll data,” said Ronald Leung, chief dealer at Lee Cheong Gold Dealers in Hong Kong.
• Investors are focused on Friday’s US nonfarm payrolls report, with economists expecting job gains of 178,000 in December.
US Fed has indicated that it would press ahead with further interest rate hikes this year after its second rate increase in a decade last month. Positive data usually puts pressure on gold prices, because investors raise bets on a US interest rate hike that would increase the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding bullion.
• Analysts and traders say that the focus of the gold markets will move towards Trump’s inauguration and some concerns exist about his potential policies.
• Spot gold failed to break a resistance at $1,182 per ounce and it may either hover below this level or retrace to a support at $1,159, according to Reuters technical analyst Wang Tao.
Reference: Reuters
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