Price of Gold Fundamental Daily Forecast – Bullish Traders Hoping for Weak Jobs Report

Gold futures are trading higher early Friday shortly before the regular session opening and the release of the U.S. Non-Farm Payrolls report. Traders are reacting to a weaker U.S. Dollar and a report that the U.S. Federal Reserve may pause its tightening cycle. Today’s job report will offer clues as to the health of the economy, which some say is starting to slow.

At 0831 GMT, February Comex Gold is trading $1246.30, up $2.70 or +0.22%.

Gold was supported on Thursday after the Wall Street Journal reported that Federal Reserve officials were considering whether to signal a new wait-and-see approach after its widely expected rate hike in December.

Also helping to drive prices higher is the inversion in the yield curve which could be signaling an economic slowdown or even a recession in the future.

In other news, gold-backed exchange-traded funds registered inflows in all the world’s major regions in November, as volatile stock markets fueled flight-to-safety buying, the World Gold Council said on Thursday.

At 1330 GMT, gold traders will get the opportunity to react to the latest report on the health of the U.S. labor market. The report is expected to show the economy added 198K jobs in November. The unemployment rate is expected to remain at 3.7%. The most closely watched component of the report will be Average Hourly Earnings. It is expected to come in at 0.3%.

Average Hourly Earnings is an inflation indicator so investors as well as the Fed will be watching it to determine if inflation is heating up or cooling off. This will affect future Fed rate hike decisions.