- Nonfarm payrolls rebounded strongly in June to boost the greenback.
- US Dollar Index surged to multi-week highs above the 97 mark.
- 10-year US T-bond yield gained traction and was last up more than 4% on the day.
The XAU/USD pair came under strong bearish pressure in the last hour and dropped below the critical $1400 mark. As of writing, the troy ounce of the precious metal was down 1.4%, or nearly $20, on the day at near $1395.
This week’s highly-anticipated labour market data from the U.S. showed that nonfarm payrolls in June increased by 224,000 following May’s reading of 72,000 and came in much better than analysts’ estimate of 160,000. Although further details of the report revealed that the unemployment rate ticked up to 3.7%, the greenback didn’t have a difficult time gathering strength. At the moment, the DXY is at its highest level in two weeks at 97.23.
Furthermore, the 10-year T-bond yield gained more than 4% on the back of the upbeat data and hurt the demand for traditional safe-havens such as the precious metal.
There won’t be any macroeconomic data releases from the U.S. in the remainder of the day and the pair is unlikely to stage a meaningful recovery in the current market atmosphere. Additionally, a weekly close belo9w the $1400 mark could bring in more sellers and keep the bearish pressure intact in the near-term.
Technical levels to watch for
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