(Kitco News) - Gold is having a good session in Europe this morning with the yellow metal rising 0.58% after some tough days in recent weeks. The price of gold has fallen around 4% in the last month as interest rates continue to move un an upward trajectory and the U.S. dollar strength continues to persist. The U.S. 2 year government bond yield has hit 3.50% and could have given safe haven investors another alternative to precious metals and there has been a clear correlation between the two assets lately with gold struggling everytime bond yields move another leg higher.
Friday presents the latest U.S. non-farm payroll figures. The analyst consensus is that 300k jobs would be added to the American economy for the month of August. JP Morgan predict the highest number at 452K and Natwest are going for 200k with the lowest estimate. An interesting number to look out for could be the average wage figure. As inflation is taking its toll on the economy, wage increases could be an important indicator to see if the economy can keep up.
Looking at the 1-hour chart below the price has been moving in a very clean channel to the downside. There is a resistance level close by at $1709.34/oz that could cause a little trouble leading into the event but the stronger resistance is higher up at $1723/oz. On the downside, there are not too many support zones. The main level is the previous wave low and this is the consolidation low from the higher timeframes too ($1688/oz).
