On Thursday, gold reached a two-week pinnacle, soaring to $2,378, propelled by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics’ announcement of weaker-than-anticipated jobs data. This news held US Treasury bond yields steady, providing a favorable environment for the precious metal. The XAU/USD pair traded at $2,369, marking a 0.54% gain after rebounding from weekly lows of $2,320.
The day’s market dynamics were heavily influenced by the US employment figures, with the BLS unveiling that the number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits surpassed both consensus estimates and the previous week’s figures. Concurrently, the European Central Bank (ECB) elected to slash interest rates, initially triggering an ascent in US Treasury yields before retracting from its earlier highs.
Despite the ECB’s decision, the US 10-year benchmark is poised to record weekly losses, although it retreated from a daily zenith of 4.32% to settle at 4.285%. Simultaneously, the US Dollar Index, gauging the Greenback’s performance against a basket of six major currencies, dipped 0.12% to 104.14.
With the spotlight now on the latest US employment data, traders eagerly await Friday’s release of the May Nonfarm Payrolls report. Forecasts anticipate an addition of 185,000 individuals to the workforce, surpassing April’s 175,000. The Unemployment Rate is predicted to hold steady at 3.9%, while Average Hourly Earnings are projected to remain unchanged at 3.9%.
