Gold tests SMAs

On Monday, gold was testing the resistance of the hourly simple moving averages just below the 1,410.00 level.

In general, it was expected that the commodity price will decline, as it has not technical support as low as 1,385.00.

Bureau of Labor Statistics released the US ISM Non-Farm Employment Change data , which came out better-than-expected of 244K compared with the forecast of 162K.

According to the official release: "Notable job gains occurred in professional and business services, in health care, and in transportation and warehousing."

This week the data will come from the US. There are FOMC Meeting Minutes incoming and a couple of minor data releases.

The FOMC Meeting Minutes will come first, as they will be published at 18:00 GMT on Wednesday.

On Thursday, the US CPI and Core CPI data will be published at 12:30 GMT.

On Friday, the US Producers Price Index will be released at 12:30 GMT.

For more information watch this week's Economic Calendar Analysis

XAU/USD short-term forecast

On Friday, the XAU/USD exchange rate tested the psychological level at 1,390.00. During Monday's morning, the rate was testing the resistance formed by the 55-, 100– and 200-hour SMAs, currently located circa 1,410.00.

If the given resistance holds, it is likely, that gold could depreciate against the US Dollar in the short term. In this case, the rate most likely to be supported by the monthly PP at the 1,385.30 mark.

Otherwise, it is expected, that the price for gold could surpass the given resistance and continue to increase. A possible upside target is the psychological level at 1,425.00.

Hourly Chart

Daily Chart

Traders go short on Gold

By the middle of Monday's London trading session 55% of open position volume on the Swiss Foreign Exchange was in short positions.

Meanwhile, in the 1000 base point range around the current metal's price the orders were bearish - 54% of orders were set to sell.