- 56% of all SWFX open positions are long
- 62% of pending commands were to buy the metal
- The bullion opened at 1,182.26
- Upcoming Events: US JOLTS Job Openings
The US economy created less jobs than expected in the last month of 2016, disappointing markets. The US unemployment rate rose in line with analysts' expectations from 4.6% to 4.7%, while the participation rate climbed from 62.6% to 62.7%. The report also showed US nonfarm payrolls advanced 156,000, while markets anticipated a gain of 177,000, following the previous month's increase of 178,000. Official data published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics showed manufacturing employment advanced 17,000 in December, despite small decreases in two previous months. In the meantime, there was also a slight fall in construction jobs and decline of over 15,000 in temporary help-services jobs. Nevertheless, government employment increased 12,000. In the meantime, the BLS said the Average Earnings Index jumped 0.4%, compared to a 0.1% decrease in November, which boosted the annual rate from 2.5% to 2.9%, the strongest gain since June 2009. Despite mixed economic indicators, the data is likely to maintain confidence in the job market and analysts' expectations for the Federal Reserve's rate hikes in 2017.
After the report, the US Dollar strengthened immediately. The EUR/USD pair dropped to 1.0550, while the USD/JPY held steady at 116.50.
Upcoming fundamental releases: US JOLTS Job Openings
During Tuesday's trading session there is about to be one notable macroeconomic data release, which might impact the markets by causing short term volatility. The US JOLTS Job Openings number will be published at 15:00 GMT.
Gold reaches above 1,185 mark
Daily chart: The yellow metal began a decline after reaching above the first monthly resistance at 1,184.64 and touching the 1,187.82 level, where a medium-term trend line was located at on Tuesday. The bullion is most likely set to decline after reaching these heights, as during the retreat the metal fell below the monthly R1. Further below the monthly R1 the closest support level is the weekly PP 1,167.75. In addition, markets are expecting a stronger US Dollar not only due to technical reasons but also fundamental events about to occur.Daily chart
Hourly chart: The hourly chart reveals that the ascending short term channel is still in force and has not been broken. In addition, just recently the channel's lower trend line managed to rebound the metal's direction. Due to that it is most likely that the short term trend line and the additional short term SMAs will provide support for the bullion. That means that the yellow metal will decline gradually not in a sudden jump.
Hourly chart
SWFX trader sentiment unchanged
OANDA Gold traders remain largely optimistic regarding the Bullion, as open positions remain 80% long. Meanwhile, traders of SAXO bank have almost not changed their bullish outlook in terms of prospects for the metal, as today showed 67.01% of traders betting the metal will surge, compared to 67.95% during the previous session.