On Friday, the gold price pulled back off the session highs of about $2,667 to trade at about $2,647 after the latest US data. The XAU/USD trades within a sideways channel formation in the 60-minute chart.
The price of the yellow metal also fell slightly below the 100-hour moving average line. However, both the bulls and the bears are presented with an opportunity as the gold price trades centrally in the 14-hour RSI.
Gold Price Fundamentals Overview
From a fundamental perspective, the XAU/USD trades during a relatively busy period in the US market. On Friday, the US jobs data for September outperformed the expectation of 140k with a significantly higher tally of 254k, up from the previous month’s equivalent of 159k.
The unemployment rate for the month also edged slightly lower to 4.1%, down from 4.2% in August, beating the forecast of 4.2%. On the other hand, the average hourly wage growth for the period outshone the (YoY) forecast of 3.8% with a change of 4%. The (MoM) equivalent also exceeded the expectation of 0.3% with a change of 0.4%.
Earlier in the week, the initial jobless claims for the week ending September 27 missed the expectation of 220k with a tally of 225k, up from 219k. The ADP employment change for September rose to 143k, up from 103k in August, beating the forecast of 120k.
On the other hand, the ISM Services PMI for the month outshone the forecast of 51.7 with a reading of 54.9, while the ISM Services Prices Paid beat 56.3 with 59.4. Elsewhere, the S&P Global Composite PMI for September missed the forecast of 54.4 with 54.
Gold Price Technical Analysis (the 60-min Chart)
Technically, the XAU/USD trades within a sideways channel formation in the 60-minute chart. However, the 14-hour RSI has recently pulled back to avoid rallying into overbought conditions.
Therefore, the bears will be targeting extended pullbacks at about $2,627 or lower at $2,605. On the other hand, the bulls will look to pounce on rebounds at about $2,667 or higher at $2,687.
Gold Price Technical Analysis (the Daily Chart)
In the daily chart, the yellow metal trades within an ascending channel formation. However, the 14-day RSI has recently pulled back to avoid rallying deeper into the overbought conditions.
Therefore, the bears will be targeting extended pullbacks at about $2,557 or lower at $2,472. On the other hand, the bulls will look to ride the current rally towards $2,719 or higher to $2,798.