Gold Price Rises as Hawkish Fed Bets Taper Off
The gold price has continued to rise on Friday ahead of the US Nonfarm Payrolls (NFP) data for August, which is set to be published at 12:30 GMT. The weak ADP Employment Change data for August has created an unfavorable backdrop for the NFP report.
TD Securities expects August NFP to rebound to 95k after July posted a decline of 23k, with limited movement on the jobless rate. A modestly hawkish employment report would reaffirm the Fed's attention on inflation, but is unlikely to push the Committee towards hikes.
Traders have trimmed hawkish Fed bets following comments from Fed Governor Christopher Waller, who appeared confident about price pressures deflating recently. The CME FedWatch tool shows that the odds of the Fed hiking interest rates in September have diminished to 50% from 63.2% seen on Wednesday.
The gold price is currently trading at $4,469.86, retaining a bullish near-term bias as it holds above the 100-day SMA at roughly $4,354.56. The price structure suggests buyers remain in control while the Relative Strength Index (RSI) near 55 hints at modest positive momentum without yet reaching overbought territory.