- Gold spot prices are catching a late-week lift out of the week’s lows following a bumper NFP report.
- XAU/USD is still in bearish territory for the week after draining from $1,850.
- The US NFP firmly beat market expectations, sending risk appetite into the ceiling for Friday.
Gold spot prices have climbed into $1,833.00 in late Friday trading after a bumper US Non-Farm Payrolls (NFP) printing, and risk-on market flows are sending XAU/USD bids into fresh highs despite still remaining notably lower than Monday’s opening prices.
The US economy added an unexpected 26K jobs to the employment landscape, handily beating the forecast 170K and rising even further from the previous reading of 227K, which was revised upwards from 178K.
Market sentiment has pinned firmly bullish following the NFP beat, taking XAU/USD back up the charts after most of the week saw spot Gold prices firmly on the low end.
US Nonfarm Payrolls soar by 336,000 in September vs. 170,000 forecast
Gold prices have been under immense pressure with US Treasury yields pinning into 17-year highs, pushing investors into safe-haven tunnels and sending the US Dollar soaring.
Markets are catching a brief breather from high-side Treasury yields, but next week will see renewed pressure from US Producer Price Index (PPI) figures and the Federal Reserve’s (Fed) latest meeting minutes, where investors will be keeping a close eye on the Fed’s internal dialogues, looking for hints about the US central bank’s path forward on interest rates.
XAU/USD technical outlook
Despite Friday’s bump-and-run in Gold prices, the XAU/USD remains deeply buried in bearish territory, down nearly 6% from mid-September’s peak near $1,950.00.
The XAU/USD is set for a bullish relief rally with price action trading far below the 200-day Simple Moving Average (SMA) near $1,930.00, and it will be a challenge for Gold bulls to push spot prices back into near-term bullish territory with the 50-day SMA confirming a bearish cross of the longer moving average.
XAU/USD daily chart
XAU/USD technical levels
