Gold futures fluctuated in a tight range slipping towards the Asian session to make their second consecutive weekly loss, shrugging off the US dollar's third session decline in four sessions from its highest since March 8 according to the inverse relationship between them on the eve of developments And economic data expected Friday by the US economy, the largest economy in the world.
Gold futures for June delivery fell 0.27% to currently trade at $ 1,292.90 per ounce from the opening at $ 1,296.50 per ounce, while the US dollar index fell 0.09% to 97.21, resuming its rebound from Higher in a month compared to the opening at 97.30.
Investors are currently looking for the US economy to release labor market data, which may reflect a stable 3.8% unemployment rate, unchanged from last February's reading, amid expectations that the reading of the Change in Employment Index for the sectors The pace of job creation accelerated to 172,000 jobs, up from 20,000 jobs in February.
This is in line with the average hourly earnings reading, which may indicate slowing growth to 0.4% vs. 0.3% in February, and before we see later today the US Consumer Confidence Index for February which may reflect a decline to $ 17.2 billion from $ 17.0 billion in January.
Technical analysis:
Gold finished the double-top pattern after yesterday's decline and is back around 1290.00, noting that SMA 50 is a continuous negative pressure against the price, while Stochastic is losing its positive momentum significantly.
Therefore, we believe that the opportunities are available to trade negatively during the coming sessions, waiting for the 1275.30 to be tested initially, noting that the completion of the mentioned negative pattern will push the price to achieve more negative targets extending to 1253.20 then 1231.10 in the near term, while stability below 1302.60 An important condition for the continuation of the expected decline.
The trading range for today is among the support at 1270.00 and resistance at 1302.60.
The general trend for today is bearish.