Gold prices were flat for a second day of trading on the lack of economic reports and updates on the US-China trade negotiations. XAUUSD opened the day at $1,474.31 and traded to an intraday high of $1,479.99 before settling at $1,475.56 by the New York session close.
Markets Awaiting for Updates on the US-China Trade Negotiations
There were no high-impact economic reports released from the US yesterday which left trading on XAUUSD flat. We also have yet to hear more tangible updates on how the US and China are doing in terms of finalizing a phase one deal. If you remember, gold prices slid on Wednesday following a Bloomberg report which said that the two countries are close to announcing an agreement. In fact, it was said that they would announce a deal before December 15. This relieved investors’ concerns brought about by earlier comments by US President Donald Trump that he is not in a hurry to strike a deal with China.
US Labor Figures Due Today
Today, top-tier employment data from the US are scheduled to be released. At 1:30 pm GMT, the Non-Farm Employment Change report for November is anticipated to show that 181,000 jobs were added to the economy during the month. This forecast is high considering that the there were already 137,000 jobs added in October. Meanwhile, the unemployment rate is seen to print at 3.6% which is the same as the previous month. Lastly, average hourly earnings are anticipated to post a 0.3% uptick for November to follow the 0.2% increase we saw in October.
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In the short-term, the trend will remain bullish as long we trade above the August 2 low of 1429.77. The price is about 60 dollars from the low, and about 54 dollars from the next major targets, hence the risk-reward ratio for a fresh long position is poor. However, if the price corrects 50% of the rally from the August 2, and thereby reaches 1461 level, the risk-reward ratio will improve to 2.54 times the risk.Download our latest quarterly market outlook for our longer-term trade ideas.
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