XAU/USD holding above $2,000 heading towards Friday’s US NFP

• Spot Gold has traded comparatively thin through the week after Monday’s massive surge.
• XAU/USD peaked just above $2,140 to kick off the week, holding steady just above $2,020.
• Risk markets will be clamping down on positioning ahead of Friday’s US NFP print.

Gold set new all-time highs this week at $2,144.48 in a hard bid rally early Monday, and the XAU/USD has spent the rest of the week in thin trading after paring away Monday’s opening gains.

Spot Gold has bid slightly lower on the week, down a little over 2% from Monday’s opening prices as investors head into the Friday trading session. Traders will be looking ahead to the latest US Nonfarm Payrolls (NFP) report due in the upcoming American trading session to close out the week.

The US NFP is forecast to see a slight improvement from October’s 150K to 180K new job additions in November, and markets will be hinging on the report with investors hoping for a weak report to help boost odds of a Federal Reserve (Fed) rate cut. Money markets have leaned into a “sooner rather than later” narrative on Fed rate cuts, and investors have run far ahead of policy structure, haggling bids based on whether or not the Fed will cut rates next March.

XAU/USD Technical Outlook

Gold is currently down nearly five and a half percent from Monday’s all-time record bids above $2,140, trading tightly near $2,020.

The 50-day Simple Moving Average (SMA) is confirming a bullish cross of the 200-day SMA near $1,950, and downside action could see a technical bounce from the level as long as bidders maintain control.

The XAU/USD finds itself bidding into a rising trendline from October’s low bids near $1,810, but the week’s downside pressure knocking Spot Gold off of newly-minted all-time highs sees the XAU/USD coiling on the south side of a significant technical barrier from $2,050.

XAU/USD Daily Chart

XAU/USD Technical Levels