Gold Posts Sharp Gains, Flirts with $1200 Level

Gold has continued where it paused for the weekend, as the metal continues its impressive rally against the US dollar. In Monday’s North American session, gold is trading at $1193.20 an ounce. In economic news, it’s a slow start to the week, with just one US event on the schedule. The Labor Market Index posted a weak reading of 0.4 points.

It’s been up, up, up for the shiny metal. Gold prices continue to climb, and briefly punched above the symbolic $1200 line on Monday, the first time that has happened since June. Market turbulence in early 2016, caused by the Chinese slowdown and the collapse in oil prices, has been great news for gold. The metal has surged an outstanding 12 percent since the beginning of the year. The rally continued last week, as US employment and service sector data disappointed. On Friday, Nonfarm Payrolls, a key indicator, fell to just 151 thousand, well short of the forecast of 189 thousand. No less important, this figure marked a sharp drop from the previous release of 292 thousand.

Following a host of soft job numbers, concerns are being raised about the strength of the US economy. Solid growth and a robust labor market in the second half of 2015 helped convince the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates in December, but the change in economic climate led to the Fed to hold off on another rate hike in January and issue a cautious policy statement. If employment numbers do not improve soon, it’s unlikely that the Fed will raise rates in March.

XAU/USD Fundamentals

Monday (Feb. 8)

*Key releases are highlighted in bold

*All release times are EST

*Key events are in bold

XAU/USD for Monday, February 8, 2016

XAU/USD February 8 at 12:40 EST

Open: 1164.61 Low: 1164.26 High: 1199.20 Close: 1194.70

XAU/USD Technical

• XAU/USD continues to break above resistance levels as it climbs higher. The pair was flat for most of the Asian session. XAU/USD has posted steady gains in the European and North American sessions.
• 1191 has switched to a support role
• There is resistance at 1205
• Current range: 1134 to 1151

Further levels in both directions:

• Below: 1191, 1175, , 1151, and 1134
• Above: 1205 and 1232 and 1255

OANDA’s Open Positions Ratio

XAU/USD ratio is showing long positions with a slight majority (53%). This is indicative of slight trader bias towards gold continuing to move higher.

This article is for general information purposes only. It is not investment advice or a solution to buy or sell securities. Opinions are the authors; not necessarily that of OANDA Corporation or any of its affiliates, subsidiaries, officers or directors. Leveraged trading is high risk and not suitable for all. You could lose all of your deposited funds.