Gold Struggles Amid Revived Hike Bets and Iran Risks
Gold prices have been under selling pressure for two consecutive days, but the metal still managed to hold above $4,400 during the Asian session on Monday. This resilience below the mentioned mark warrants caution for bearish traders before positioning for any further losses.
The US Nonfarm Payrolls report showed that the economy added 162K new jobs in August, surpassing consensus estimates by a wide margin. The Unemployment Rate remained unchanged at 4.1%, as expected, while annual wage inflation fell to 3.1% from 3.2%. These details come on top of inflation risks stemming from higher energy prices and lifted bets on an interest rate hike by the US Federal Reserve (Fed) later this month.
TD Securities believes that the latest data reinforces the view that the US labor market remains resilient, with both official figures and private-sector jobs growth looking up. This suggests that the labor market is in a good place, possibly getting better.