Gold price edges higher as ADP falls shorts of expectations

Source Fxstreet
  • Gold prices see slight increase, stabilizing at around $2,650 following subpar US ADP employment data.
  • November's ADP report shows a hiring slowdown, with only 146,000 jobs added versus the 150,000 expected.
  • Fed officials maintain cautious stance on rate cuts amid solid but slowing employment growth and sticky inflation.

Gold prices consolidate at around $2,650 for the seventh consecutive day, posts modest gains of over 0.20% after US jobs data revealed that private hiring dipped, missing economists forecasts. At the time of writing, XAU/USD trades at $2,648.

XAU/USD gains modestly after weaker-than-expected November job growth

Automatic Data Processing (ADP) revealed that companies in the US added 146,000 people to the workforce in November, below estimates of 150,000. Worth noting that the numbers were also below the revised numbers of the previous month, with October figures coming at 184,000, down from 238,000 reported a month ago.

Today’s data, coupled with the latest Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) data revealed on Tuesday, confirms that the labor market remains solid. Federal Reserve policymakers, who shifted their dual-mandate priority towards maximum employment, leaving aside price stability, can be relieved that the economy remains solid.

Recently, inflation has proved to be stickier than expected. In the last three months, the US disinflation process stalled, and despite ticking up a tenth, prices remain far from hitting the Fed’s 2% goal.

In the meantime, Fed speakers cross the wires. St. Louis Fed President Alberto Musalem said that time might be near to slow or pause rate cuts. Musalem added the labor market is consistent with full employment and that inflation can converge toward 2% in the next two years.

During the day, the US economic docket will feature Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s speech at around 18:45 GMT.

Gold Price Forecast: Technical outlook

Gold’s remain upward biased, yet remains subdued at around the $2,600-$2,650 for the last seven days. Capped on the upside by the 50-day Simple Moving Average (SMA) at $2,668, if its broken this would expose $2,700. On further strength, bulls can test the year-to-date (YTD) high at $2,790. Conversely, bears stepping in, could drag XAU/USD to $2,600, followed by the 100-day SMA at $2,578.

Gold FAQs

Gold has played a key role in human’s history as it has been widely used as a store of value and medium of exchange. Currently, apart from its shine and usage for jewelry, the precious metal is widely seen as a safe-haven asset, meaning that it is considered a good investment during turbulent times. Gold is also widely seen as a hedge against inflation and against depreciating currencies as it doesn’t rely on any specific issuer or government.

Central banks are the biggest Gold holders. In their aim to support their currencies in turbulent times, central banks tend to diversify their reserves and buy Gold to improve the perceived strength of the economy and the currency. High Gold reserves can be a source of trust for a country’s solvency. Central banks added 1,136 tonnes of Gold worth around $70 billion to their reserves in 2022, according to data from the World Gold Council. This is the highest yearly purchase since records began. Central banks from emerging economies such as China, India and Turkey are quickly increasing their Gold reserves.

Gold has an inverse correlation with the US Dollar and US Treasuries, which are both major reserve and safe-haven assets. When the Dollar depreciates, Gold tends to rise, enabling investors and central banks to diversify their assets in turbulent times. Gold is also inversely correlated with risk assets. A rally in the stock market tends to weaken Gold price, while sell-offs in riskier markets tend to favor the precious metal.

The price can move due to a wide range of factors. Geopolitical instability or fears of a deep recession can quickly make Gold price escalate due to its safe-haven status. As a yield-less asset, Gold tends to rise with lower interest rates, while higher cost of money usually weighs down on the yellow metal. Still, most moves depend on how the US Dollar (USD) behaves as the asset is priced in dollars (XAU/USD). A strong Dollar tends to keep the price of Gold controlled, whereas a weaker Dollar is likely to push Gold prices up.

 

Disclaimer: For information purposes only. Past performance is not indicative of future results.
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Author  FXStreet
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Author  Mitrade
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Ethereum is attempting to recover from a $3,026 low but remains below $3,200 and the 100-hour SMA, with a bearish trend line near $3,175 capping rebounds as bulls need a clean break above $3,200 to target $3,250–$3,400, while a drop below $3,050 risks a retest of $3,000 and $2,940.
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Author  Mitrade
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Author  Mitrade
22 hours ago
Bitcoin has dropped back below $88,000 after rolling over from $90,500, with price still trading under the 100-hour Simple Moving Average. The sell-off found a floor at $85,151, and BTC is now consolidating near that base, but rebounds are facing pressure from a bearish trend line around $89,000. Bulls need to retake $88,000–$89,000 to ease downside risk; failure to do so keeps $85,500–$85,000 and then $83,500 in play, with $80,000 as the deeper “line in the sand.” Bitcoin (BTC) is back in damage-control mode after a sharp pullback wiped out recent gains. The price failed to reclaim the $90,000–$90,500 band, rolled over, and slid through $88,500 before briefly dipping under $87,000. Buyers did show up around $85,000, but the rebound so far looks more like stabilization than a clear trend reversal. Bitcoin dips hard, finds a bid near $85,000(h3) BTC’s latest move lower began when it couldn’t build follow-through above $90,000 and $90,500. Once that upside stalled, sellers took control and pushed price down through $88,500. The slide accelerated enough to spike below $87,000, but the market didn’t free-fall. Bulls defended the $85,000 zone, printing a low at $85,151. Since then, Bitcoin has been consolidating below the 23.6% Fibonacci retracement of the drop from the $93,560 swing high to the $85,151 low — a clue that the bounce is still shallow and that sellers haven’t fully backed off yet. Structurally, BTC is still on the back foot: It’s trading below $88,000, and It remains below the 100-hour Simple Moving Average, keeping short-term trend pressure pointed downward. Resistance is layered, and $89,000 is the problem area(h3) If bulls try to turn this into a recovery, they’ll have to climb through multiple ceilings in quick succession. First, BTC faces resistance around $87,150, followed by a more meaningful barrier near $87,500. From there, the market’s attention snaps back to $88,000 — the level BTC just lost and now needs to reclaim. A close back above $88,000 would improve the tone, but it doesn’t solve the bigger issue: there’s a bearish trend line on the hourly BTC/USD chart (Kraken feed) with resistance near $89,000, which also lines up with the next technical hurdle. If BTC can push through $89,000 and hold, the rebound could extend toward $90,000, with follow-through targets at $91,000 and $91,500. But until price clears that $88,000–$89,000 zone, rallies are at risk of being sold rather than chased. If BTC fails to reclaim resistance, the downside path is clear(h3) The near-term bear case is simple: if Bitcoin can’t climb back above the $87,000 area and keep traction, sellers may attempt another leg lower. Support levels line up like this: Immediate support: $85,500 First major support: $85,000 Next support: $83,500 Then $82,500 in the near term Below that, the major “don’t break this” level is still $80,000. If BTC slips under $80,000, the risk of acceleration to the downside increases significantly — not because it’s magic, but because it’s the kind of psychological and structural level that tends to trigger forced de-risking. Indicators: momentum still leans bearish(h3) The intraday indicators aren’t offering much comfort yet: Hourly MACD is losing pace in the bearish zone. Hourly RSI remains below 50, suggesting sellers still have the upper hand on short timeframes. So while the $85,000 defense held for now, the market hasn’t flipped bullish — it’s just stopped bleeding.
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Author  Mitrade
19 hours ago
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