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Gold sticks to gains below two-week top on softer USD; focus remains on US NFP
- Gold regains positive traction and moves back closer to an over two-week high set on Thursday.
- Hopes for a US-Iran peace deal counter renewed hostilities and undermine the safe-haven USD.
- Diminishing odds for a Fed rate hike also support the bullion as traders await the US NFP report.
Gold (XAU/USD) clings to modest intraday gains through the Asian session on Friday and remains well within striking distance of an over two-week top, touched the previous day. Despite renewed hostilities in the Strait of Hormuz, investors seem hopeful over a potential US-Iran peace deal. This triggers a fresh leg down in Crude Oil prices, easing inflationary concerns and tempering bets for a more hawkish US Federal Reserve (Fed). The outlook, in turn, keeps a lid on any further US Dollar (USD) appreciation and turns out to be a key factor acting as a tailwind for the bullion.
The US Central Command said Thursday that US forces targeted Iranian military facilities responsible for launching attacks against warships transiting through the strategic waterway. Earlier, Iran accused the US of violating the ceasefire by striking multiple targets in and around the strait. However, US President Donald Trump stated that a ceasefire with Iran is still in place and added that it would be obvious if the ceasefire was over. Moreover, the US military stated that US forces do not seek escalation, undermining the USD’s reserve currency status and supporting the Gold price.
Meanwhile, the latest development fails to assist Crude Oil prices to capitalize on Thursday’s goodish intraday move up, though the downside seems cushioned amid geopolitical uncertainties. In fact, Trump warned that US forces will hit a lot harder and more violently if Iran doesn’t sign a deal soon. Moreover, continued economic growth and inflation fears have forced investors to push back their expectations for rate cuts by the US Fed to late 2027 or early 2028. This, in turn, should limit deeper USD losses and cap the upside for the Gold as traders keenly await the US monthly employment details.
The popularly known US Nonfarm Payrolls (NFP) report is due for release later during the early North American session and is expected to show that the economy added 62K new jobs in April. This would mark a significant slowdown from the previous month’s reading of 178K. Meanwhile, the Unemployment Rate is forecast to hold steady at 4.3%, while Average Hourly Earnings might have risen by 3.8% YoY in April. Nevertheless, the data will further play a role in influencing expectations about the Fed’s policy stance, which, in turn, will drive the USD and provide a fresh impetus to the Gold price.
XAU/USD 4-hour chart
Gold seems poised to climb further; 23.6% Fibo. holds the key for bulls
The XAU/USD pair is holding a clear bullish bias as it sits above the 200-period Simple Moving Average (SMA) and above the 61.8% Fibonacci retracement level of the latest upswing. Furthermore, momentum indicators remain constructive. The Relative Strength Index (RSI) at 64.24 stays in positive territory without yet being deeply overbought, while the Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) (12, 26, 9) prints a positive reading near 6.13. This hints that upside momentum is still in play, albeit less aggressive than during the prior leg higher.
On the downside, the 23.6% retracement at $4,703.51 has turned into immediate support, followed by the 200-period SMA at $4,665.16, with deeper retracement cushions emerging at $4,587.31 (38.2%) and $4,493.39 (50.0%) if a broader correction unfolds. On the topside, the next significant resistance appears at the swing-anchor near $4,891.35, and as long as the Gold price holds above the $4,700 area, pullbacks are likely to be viewed as corrective within the prevailing uptrend.
(The technical analysis of this story was written with the help of an AI tool.)
US Dollar Price Today
The table below shows the percentage change of US Dollar (USD) against listed major currencies today. US Dollar was the strongest against the Japanese Yen.
| USD | EUR | GBP | JPY | CAD | AUD | NZD | CHF | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| USD | -0.09% | -0.12% | -0.06% | -0.08% | -0.19% | -0.15% | -0.09% | |
| EUR | 0.09% | -0.06% | 0.04% | 0.02% | -0.12% | -0.03% | 0.00% | |
| GBP | 0.12% | 0.06% | 0.11% | 0.06% | -0.07% | 0.05% | 0.07% | |
| JPY | 0.06% | -0.04% | -0.11% | -0.02% | -0.16% | -0.08% | -0.03% | |
| CAD | 0.08% | -0.02% | -0.06% | 0.02% | -0.15% | -0.06% | -0.01% | |
| AUD | 0.19% | 0.12% | 0.07% | 0.16% | 0.15% | 0.09% | 0.12% | |
| NZD | 0.15% | 0.03% | -0.05% | 0.08% | 0.06% | -0.09% | 0.04% | |
| CHF | 0.09% | -0.01% | -0.07% | 0.03% | 0.00% | -0.12% | -0.04% |
The heat map shows percentage changes of major currencies against each other. The base currency is picked from the left column, while the quote currency is picked from the top row. For example, if you pick the US Dollar from the left column and move along the horizontal line to the Japanese Yen, the percentage change displayed in the box will represent USD (base)/JPY (quote).
