- Risk-off mood helps the precious metal gather strength on Thursday.
- US Dollar Index posts small gains near 97.
- 10-year US T-bond yield stays in red.
Supported by risk-off flows, the precious metal gathered strength and caused the XAU/USD pair climb to its highest level since June 7 at $1339 earlier today. However, with the trading action turning subdued in the absence of significant macroeconomic drivers, the pair pulled started to pull away from highs and was last seen posting small gains on the day near $1335.
The uncertainty surrounding the U.S.-China trade conflict and mixed headlines on the possibility of a meeting between U.S. President Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi at the G20 summit caused the market sentiment to turn sour in the second half of the week following a positive start. The 10-year Treasury bond yield, one of the reliable gauges of the market’s risk perception, was last down 0.72% on a daily basis.
Nevertheless, major equity indexes in the U.S. started the day with modest gains on Thursday to suggest that the market sentiment could turn positive in the second half of the day and make it difficult for gold to find demand.
On the other hand, the US Dollar Index is posting small gains above the 97 mark to further weigh on the pair. Today’s data from the U.S. today showed that weekly jobless claims came in slightly higher than the market expectations in the week ending June 7 and both import and export prices declined in April but were largely ignored by the market participants.
Technical levels to watch for