Gold Soars to Three-Week Highs as Bulls Eye $4,380 Area
Gold prices continued their upward trend on Friday, reaching fresh three-week highs above $4,300. This surge marks the precious metal's strongest weekly performance since January, with a nearly 7% gain. However, further appreciation is likely to depend on the outcome of July's Nonfarm Payrolls (NFP) due later in the day.
Market experts are anticipating a net increase of 80K payrolls from June's 57K, but analysts at Deutsche Bank have a more cautious view, forecasting a 'slight uptick in headline (+65k forecast vs. +57k previously). They note that such an outcome would put the latest readings below the 3- and 6-month moving averages, consistent with the recent slowing in the weekly ADP reports.
The XAU/USD has broken the downward trendline resistance from April highs earlier this week, indicating a shift in gold's trend. Technical analysis suggests that above $4,300, the next hurdle lies at the June 15 and 17 highs in the $4,380 area, while supports are found at Thursday's low of $4,223.