Gold prices steady amid mixed US economic signals
Gold's price holds firm after sliding to a daily low of $2,735 amid elevated US Treasury bond yields. Economic data from the United States (US) showed the labor market is cooling, while market participants continued to digest US President Trump’s trade policy rhetoric. The XAU/USD trades at $2,755, virtually unchanged.
Bullion prices are set to finish the week with solid gains despite trimming some of their gains on Thursday.
Data from the US Department of Labor revealed that more Americans applied for jobless benefits during the week ending January 18, which usually would signal a weakening labor market. Nevertheless, the report showed that weather distortions and the fire in Los Angeles are the main reasons for this and will likely be reflected in subsequent releases.
The yellow metal’s last leg up was sponsored by the fall of the Greenback. According to the US Dollar Index (DXY), which measures the performance of the Greenback against a basket of six peers and usually correlates inversely to Gold, tumbled 0.08% to 108.06.
On Friday, the central bank bonanza begins with the Bank of Japan (BoJ) expected to hike rates by 25 basis points (bps). Next week, the Federal Reserve (Fed) and the European Central Bank (ECB) are up next with the former projected to keep rates on hold, while the ECB is foreseen cutting borrowing costs by 25 bps.
This week, the US economic docket will feature S&P Global Flash PMIs, housing data and the final release of University of Michigan (UoM) Consumer Sentiment for January.
Source: Fxstreet
