Gold holds steady near 1-1/2 week tops, above $1900 mark ahead of NFP

• Gold attracted some dip-buying on Friday and shot to 1-1/2-week tops in the last hour.
• The risk-off mood, sliding US bond yields extended some support to the precious metal.
• A modest pickup in the USD demand capped gains ahead of the US monthly jobs report.

Gold reversed an intraday dip to the $1890 are and jumped to 1-1/2-week tops during the early European session, albeit lacked any strong follow-through.

A combination of supporting factors assisted the commodity to catch some fresh bids on Friday and move further away from two-month lows, around the $1849-48 region touched earlier this week. The impasse over the next round of the US fiscal stimulus measures dented investors appetite for perceived riskier assets.

The already weaker sentiment deteriorated further after the US President Donald Trump was tested positive for the highly contagious coronavirus disease. This was evident from a fresh leg down in the equity markets, which provided a modest lift to traditional safe-haven assets and extended support to the precious metal.

The anti-risk flow was further reinforced by a weaker tone surrounding the US Treasury bond yields, which further benefitted the non-yielding yellow metal. However, a modest US dollar strength held bulls from placing any aggressive bets and kept a lid on any runaway rally for the dollar-denominated commodity.

Investors also seemed reluctant to place aggressive bets ahead of Friday’s release of the closely watched US monthly employment details. The NFP report, along with stimulus headlines and the broader market risk sentiment will influence the XAU/USD and assist traders to grab some meaningful opportunities on the last day of the week.

Technical levels to watch