Gold (XAU/USD) Price Eyes January High of $2,079
This week, gold’s price has continued to climb, reaching new highs over $2060 and currently sitting at $2,053. The precious metal, which had been trading within a stable range through January, experienced a surge this week, coinciding with a rally in the bond markets. Returns on US 10-year and 2-year government bonds fell sharply from their recent peaks, causing the US dollar to soften and enhancing the attractiveness of gold as a protection against inflation. This surge in demand for safe investments follows the Federal Reserve’s most recent meeting, which indicated a reduction in the size of future interest rate increases that may continue provided the economy doesn’t experience significant worsening. Additionally, consider reading about cryptocurrency: there are 3 alternative coins that might surpass Bitcoin’s performance in February. Experts in economics predict that the United States saw an increase of 180,000 jobs in the previous month, with a small rise in the unemployment rate to 3.8%. If this happens, it could suggest a possible relaxation of the Federal Reserve’s rigorous monetary policies. For over a year, traders have been thrown into turmoil, trying to navigate between the looming threat of a sudden economic downturn and persistent high inflation. The U.S. manufacturing sector is slightly shrinking according to the Institute for Supply Management data, though the rate of this contraction had slowed down as of January. Should the employment figures due on Friday reveal a steady but controlled growth, avoiding signs of excessive wage increases, it could pave the way for gold to approach the $2100 mark. In the short term, technical indicators suggest there’s potential for continued gains, as gold has notably risen above its 20-day simple moving average and is experiencing a positive shift in medium-term averages. With strong support now established at around $2040 and a surge in bullish momentum observed on both daily and 4-hour charts, gold’s trajectory seems to be leaning towards an upward climb, unless unexpected data from the upcoming jobs and wage reports deliver a surprise.