Gold Price Prediction – Gold Prices Continue to Slide Despite Soft Employment Figures

Gold prices moved lower on Friday, continuing to face downward pressure as riskier assets gain traction. The dollar eased, and US yields moved sideways, following a mixed US employment report which showed a softer than expected headline number. For the week, gold prices were down approximately 1%.

Trade gold with FXTM

Technical Analysis

Gold prices tumbled from a 6-year high Thursday and continued to move lower on Friday. Resistance is seen near the 10-day moving average at 1,531. Support is seen near the 50-day moving average at 1,465. Short term momentum has turned negative as the fast stochastic generated a crossover sell signal. Medium-term momentum is negative as the MACD histogram is printing near the zero index level with a downward sloping trajectory which points to lower prices.

US Employment Was Soft but With Silver Linings

The US economy added 130,000 new jobs in August, marking the smallest increase in three months. Expectations were for the number of jobs to increase by 170,000. The unemployment rate, which is a household survey remained unchanged at 3.7%. Hourly wages increased by 0.4% month over month and are now 3.2% year over year. Private payrolls rose 96,000, a three-month low, according to Labor Department figures Friday that trailed the median estimate of economists for a 150,000 gain.