Gold price (XAUUSD) is trading at $1467.30; down slightly after the Non-Farm Payrolls report showed that 266K jobs were added to the US economy, versus a consensus figure of 181K, and unemployment rate ticked down to 3.5% (versus a market consensus of 3.6%). The previous figure for the employment change was also revised upwards to 156K.
The stellar jobs report surpassed the trading deviations set for this news release in my article of yesterday. With a deviation of 25K (consensus number – previous figure), the new figure of 256K produced a great response on gold which saw the asset drop all the way to 1462.68, before profit taking caused XAUUSD to pullback to the present levels. A resumption of further downside on XAUUSD cannot be ruled out at this stage, although trade headlines may take some shine off the NFP report for today as far as gold price is concerned.
Outlook for XAUUSD
The 4-hour chart for XAUUSD shows that the price action for today was condensed into a descending triangle, which has now resolved with the selloff in gold in response to the upbeat Non-Farm Payrolls report.
Price is expected to find intraday support at the 1462.68 price level (previous intraday lows of November 7, 15 and 21). However, intraday sentiment remains bearish despite the upside pullback, and this pullback could be an opportunity sell on rallies.
A break of 1462.68 could open the door towards 1453.27 (red line marking first downside target) and 1448.22, which is a medium-term downside target.
On the flip side, trade headlines that trigger a risk-off sentiment could drive gold prices higher, targeting the upside resistance targets at 1475.53 and 1518.51.