Gold bears remain hopeful ahead of US NFP

Markets slip into pre-NFP consolidation amid early Friday as the US Dollar remains pressured and major currencies grind higher, together with the Antipodeans and commodities. It’s worth noting, however, that the risk appetite remains sour on concerns about hawkish Fed moves and China, especially after the previous day’s upbeat US employment clues and the recent news from Beijing. Hence, the ex-USD upside remains capped.

With this, the USDJPY leads the winners versus the greenback while USDCHF and USDCAD struggle for clear directions. That said, Gold price prints the first daily gains in three whereas Brent Oil sticks to minor gains around the highest level in a fortnight.

Stocks in the Asia-Pacific zone edge lower while tracing Wall Street and downbeat US stock figures but yields lack upside momentum after refreshing a multi-month high the previous day.

Further, BTCUSD and ETHUSD rebound from the weekly low while snapping a three-day losing streak as traders pare recent losses amid hopes of more inflow from institutional buying, ETFs.

Following are the latest moves of the key assets:

• Brent oil reverses the previous day’s losses around $77.00 by the press time.
• Gold price grinds higher past $1,910, printing the first daily run-up in three at the latest.
• USD Index remains depressed around 103.00, picking up bids of late.
• Wall Street closed with minor losses and weighed on the Asia-Pacific shares while equities in Europe and UK are mildly offered by the press time.
• BTCUSD and ETHUSD print minor gains to around $30,000 and $1,850 as we write.

US Dollar fails to cheer risk aversion, upbeat Fed expectations amid pre-NFP mood

Although the US-China jitters and fears of economic slowdown in Beijing, as well as in Germany, weigh on the sentiment, the US Dollar fails to cheer the risk-off mood. Also should have favored the US Dollar were Thursday’s upbeat US ADP Employment Change and ISM Services PMI. However, the greenback remains down for the second consecutive day while also ignoring the upbeat yields. The reason could be linked to the market’s positioning for the key US employment data for June.

With the US Dollar’s inability to rise, the Gold Price pare the weekly loss, the fourth in a row. Additionally favoring the XAUUSD are concerns that the US Dollar’s latest upside is fishy considering the Fed’s limited capacity to lift the rates amid broad economic pessimism.

Elsewhere, Oil price benefit from fears of supply crunch, in addition to softer US Dollar, whereas equities pare the previous monthly gains amid downbeat headlines from China.

Further, crypto traders worry about harsh regulations as industry leaders lag in their fights with the US SEC. However, the hopes of more inflow of funds and recently softer US Dollar allow traders to pare weekly losses.

• Strong buy: USDCAD
• Strong sell: ETHUSD, GBPUSD, Gold
• Buy: USD Index, Nasdaq, USDJPY
• Sell: DAX, FTSE 100, BTCUSD, AUDUSD, EURUSD

US NFP, Canada employment figures are crucial

Although the markets are jittery, traders will keep their eyes on the US and Canadian employment data to gain short-term clarity over the trend. Should the US NFP and other job indicators favor hawkish Fed moves past July, the US Dollar can quickly regain its upside momentum and weigh on the other riskier currencies. It should be noted that the USDCAD needs to witness downbeat Canada job numbers to rise, if the US employment statistics are upbeat.

May the trading luck be with you!