On Friday, the gold price pulled back from the session highs of about $3,266 to trade at about $3,227 after the U.S. jobs data. The XAU/USD trades within a descending channel formation in the 60-minute chart.
The price of the yellow metal has now fallen to trade a few levels below the 100-hour moving average line. However, it still has room left to run before reaching the oversold levels of the 14-hour RSI.
Gold Price Fundamentals Overview
From a fundamental perspective, gold price trades during a relatively busy period in the U.S. market. On Friday, the U.S. nonfarm payrolls for April came in higher than expected with 177k versus a forecast of 130k, down from the previous month’s equivalent of 185k.
On the other hand, the average hourly wage growth for the month missed the forecasted (MoM) change of 0.3% with a change of 0.2%, while the (YoY) equivalent fell short of 3.9% with a change of 3.8%. The unemployment rate for the period was in line with the estimate of 4.2%, unchanged from March, while the factory orders for March missed the estimated (MoM) change of 4.5% with a change of 4.3%.
Earlier in the week, the initial jobless claims for the week ending April 25 came in higher than expected with 241k versus a forecast of 224k, up from the preceding week’s equivalent of 223k. The ADP employment change for April also fell short of 108k with a change of 62k, down from 147k in March.
Elsewhere, the ISM Manufacturing PMI for April outshone the forecasted reading of 48 with reading of 48.7, while the ISM Manufacturing Prices Paid missed 70.3 with 69.8.
Gold Price Technical Analysis (the 60-min Chart)
Technically, the price of the yellow metal trades within a descending channel formation in the 60-minute chart. However, the 14-hour RSI still has room left to run before reaching oversold conditions.
Therefore, the bears will look to extend the current declines toward $3,193 or lower to $3,156. On the other hand, the bulls will look to pounce on rebounds at about $3,266 or higher at $3,303.
Gold Price Technical Analysis (the Daily Chart)
In the daily chart, the XAU/USD trades within an ascending channel formation. However, the 14-day RSI has recently pulled back to avoid rallying into overbought conditions.
Therefore, the bears will look to extend the current pullback towards $2,984 or lower to $2,711. On the other hand, the bulls will look to ride the current rally towards $3,493 or higher to $3,751.