Gold Price Prediction – Gold Prices Consolidate Following Mixed Jobs Data

Gold prices edged lower on Tuesday and continue to trade sideways. The cup and saucer continuation pattern that was in place has now been replaced with choppy price action which points to further consolidation. The dollar turned lower for the first time in the last 7-days, which did not appear to help most commodities that continue to trade under pressure. US yields edged slightly higher and riskier assets were mixed. Job openings declined in December as the Labor market in the US continued to tighten.

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Technical Analysis

 

Gold prices traded sideways to lower hovering just below resistance which was former support near the 10-day moving at 1,570.  Resistance is seen near the February highs at 1,592 and then the January highs at 1,611. Target support is seen near the 50-day moving average at 1,528. Short term momentum has turned positive as the fast stochastic generated a crossover buy signal.  The movement is choppy which likely means that gold is going to consolidate. The RSI slid sideways and is hovering in the middle of the neutral range and reflects consolidation. The MACD histogram is printing in the red with a flattening trajectory which also points to consolidation.

Job Opening Drop

The Labor Department reported on Tuesday that Job openings dropped in December to their lowest level in two years. Total vacancies now at 6.4 million, down from nearly 6.8 million in November. Wall Street estimates had been for about 6.9 million. Vacancies continued to decline in manufacturing with a 24% decline year-over-year. Overall, the hiring rate fell from 4.3% to 4%. The Job Openings and Labor Market Survey showed that total vacancies outnumber job seekers by nearly 700,000, down nearly by half from a few months ago.