Gold had a really bad Friday last week as it suffered one of its worst days
in several months. The reason for the selloff was due to two strong catalysts.
The first one hit in the European session when we got the headline that China
halted its reserve buying.

This has been the prevailing market narrative for the strong gains in the
past months, so it weighed on the price as market participants retrenched.

Then, in the US session, we got a strong NFP
report that saw the market repricing once again interest rates expectations
on the more hawkish side and real yields spiked to the upside taking gold
downward with them.

The sentiment in the gold market is now a bit soft, so we will need a
catalyst to give the buyers more confidence to keep charging higher. This
catalyst will likely come on Wednesday when we will get the US CPI and the FOMC
decision.

A hot US CPI report will likely trigger another selloff and take us to new
lows, while cold figures should give the market a boost.

Gold Technical
Analysis – Daily Timeframe

On the daily chart, we can
see that gold sold off into the strong support around the 2277 level where we can also find
the 38.2% Fibonacci retracement level for confluence. This is where we can expect the
buyers to step in with a defined risk below the support to position for a rally
into a new all-time high with a much better risk to reward setup.

The sellers, on the other
hand, will want to see the price breaking lower to increase the bearish bets
into the major trendline around the 2150 level where we can
also find the 61.8% Fibonacci retracement level for confluence.

Gold Technical Analysis
– 4 hour Timeframe

On the 4 hour chart, we can
see that from a risk management perspective, the sellers will be better off
waiting for a pullback into the recent support-turned
resistance around the 2320 level where they will also find the 38.2% Fibonacci
retracement level for confluence.

The buyers, on the other
hand, will want to see the price breaking higher to invalidate the bearish
setup and increase the bullish bets into the all-time high.

Gold Technical Analysis
– 1 hour Timeframe

On the 1 hour chart, we can
see the two catalysts that sent gold lower on Friday. There’s not much to do
here as the price trades right in the middle of the two key zone. The red lines
show the average
daily range for today, so in case the price reaches one of the two zone,
the market participants will have defined levels where to protect their stops.

Upcoming
Catalysts

This week is a bit empty
on the data front although we will have the biggest market moving events on
Wednesday when we get the US CPI data and the FOMC rate decision. On Thursday,
we have the US PPI and the latest US Jobless Claims figures. On Friday, we conclude
the week with the University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment survey.

See the video below

This article was written by Giuseppe Dellamotta at www.forexlive.com.

• Tuesday: UK
  Labour Market report, US NFIB Small Business Optimism Index.
• Wednesday: Japan
  PPI, China CPI, UK GDP, US CPI, FOMC Policy Decision.
• Thursday:
  Australia Labour Market report, Swiss PPI, Eurozone Industrial Production,
  US PPI, US Jobless Claims.
• Friday: New
  Zealand Manufacturing PMI, BoJ Policy Decision, US University of Michigan
  Consumer Sentiment.

Tuesday

The UK unemployment rate is expected to hold
steady at 4.3%. The wage growth figures are also seen unchanged with the
average earnings including bonus at 5.7% and the average earnings excluding
bonus at 6.0%.

Last
month, the data showed another uptick in
the unemployment rate and job losses, but wages surprised to the upside. The
BoE is more focused on the inflation data at the moment, so barring big
surprises, the data is unlikely to change much for the central bank. The market
sees 30 bps of easing by year end.

Wednesday

The US CPI Y/Y is expected at 3.4% vs.
3.4% prior, while the M/M measure is seen at 0.2% vs. 0.3% prior. The Core CPI
Y/Y is expected at 3.5% vs. 3.6% prior, while the M/M figures is seen at 0.3%
vs. 0.3% prior.

This is going to be a big market
moving release since it comes on the same day of the FOMC decision, and it will
influence their views (they will get to see
the report a day earlier). It looks like this one is going to have a pretty
binary outcome with higher-than-expected figures triggering a hawkish reaction
and lower-than-expected readings leading to a more dovish repricing.

As a reminder, the market got a bit uneasy
last Friday as we got a hot NFP
report where the wage growth surprised to
the upside and the unemployment rate ticked higher to 4% (3.96% unrounded) setting
a new cycle high. The market’s pricing got back to expect just one rate cut by
the end of the year as we continue to jump between one and two.

The Fed is expected to keep interest rates
unchanged at 5.25-5.50% with minimal (if any) change to the statement. The
focus will be on the Summary of Economic Projections (SEP) and the Dot Plot. I
see the Fed projecting two rate cuts for this year to bring it in line with
market’s expectations.

This way it wouldn’t be seen neither
dovish nor hawkish. Of course, if we see a deviation from this baseline, the
market’s reaction will be dovish in case they project three cuts and hawkish in
case they pencil just one cut.

The focus will then move on to Powell’s
Press Conference where he will likely keep a neutral tone as the Fed continues
to see inflation moving back to target but at a slower pace than expected.

These views are based on the current
state of things and since we have the US CPI report on the same day of the FOMC
decision, they might change. In fact, if we get hot
CPI figures, the market’s pricing will likely change to show just one cut for
this year (or even none).

Therefore, the Dot Plot will have a
different impact on the market with two cuts being seen as more dovish and no
cuts as hawkish. A hot CPI report will likely have a greater impact compared to
a cold one.

Conversely, if we get cold or in line
figures, the original views should still hold although the market might react
before the Fed’s decision as the risk-on sentiment will likely return.

Thursday

The Australian Labour Market report is
expected to show 39K jobs added in May vs. 38.5K in April and the unemployment
rate to tick lower to 4.0% vs. 4.1% prior. The data is unlikely to change
anything for the RBA which is seen on hold well into 2025. We will need a huge
surprise to trigger a repricing in interest rate expectations, otherwise the
focus will remain on the inflation figures.

The US PPI Y/Y is expected at 2.2% vs.
2.2% prior, while the M/M measure is seen at 0.2% vs. 0.5% prior. The Core PPI
Y/Y is expected at 2.3% vs. 2.4% prior, while the M/M figures is seen at 0.2%
vs. 0.5% prior. I don’t expect this data to influence the
market much given that the sentiment will be set by the CPI and FOMC the day
before.

The US Jobless Claims
continue to be one of the most important releases to follow every week as it’s
a timelier indicator on the state of the labour market. Initial Claims keep on hovering around
cycle lows, while Continuing Claims remain firm around the 1800K level.

This has led to a weaker
and weaker market reaction as participants become used to these numbers. This
week Initial Claims are expected at 227K vs. 229K prior, while there’s no consensus at the
time of writing for Continuing Claims although the prior release showed an
increase to 1792K vs. 1790K previously.

Friday

The BoJ is expected to keep
interest rates unchanged at 0.00-0.10% and trim its government bond buying.
Speculations began last week as we got reports from “people familiar with the
matter” which were then confirmed by Governor Ueda’s comments.

This might have been the
primary cause of Yen strength although it’s mostly noise amid a pickup in
global growth and hawkish repricing in other DM interest rates expectations. In
fact, if this trend were to continue, we can expect the Yen to restart its
depreciation against the other major currencies.

This article was written by Giuseppe Dellamotta at www.forexlive.com.

Holzmann spoke in a radio interview on Saturday with public broadcaster ORF (Österreichischer Rundfunk, ‚Austrian Broadcasting‘). He said further European Central Bank rate cuts in the abscence of cuts from the US Federal Reserve would have an impact (lower) on the EUR exchange rate and mean higher inflation:

“If the original assumption of three rate cuts were to materialize, and the Federal Reserve didn’t respond, it would certainly have an impact on the exchange rate, and with it inflation”

On Thursday last week the ECB cut deposit rate to 3.75%, from 4%. Holzmann dissented from the rate cut:

• ECB’s Holzmann dissented on the rate cut
• ECB’s Holzmann: I was the only one against a rate cut

Holzmann blamed comments from members of the Governing Council ahead of the meeting that he felt left the Bank with no option but the cut:

• “The council’s opinion was that there was no other way, also because it had been announced that such a decision would be made in June.”

Huh. I don’t think its going out on a limb too much to suggest that officials at the ECB are hosing down future rate cut expectations in order to limit the risk of a sell-off in the euro. Holzmann is getting the ball rolling on this.

This article was written by Eamonn Sheridan at www.forexlive.com.

• ForexLive European FX news wrap: ECB tries to justify rate cut, gold dips on China

In May 2024 gold prices hit a record high, and it looks like the PBOC stepped back from reserve buying in response. The Bank had been buying in each of the preceding 18 months.

China’s purchases dwindled in March and April:

• in February the PBoC bought 390,000 ounces
• in March, 160,000
• in April, 60,000
• in May, 0

The pause in May had taken heat out of the rally and the news on Friday pulled the rug.

The cessation of buying in May should be viewed as a pause, the Bank is not done buying. USD2275/80 and thereabouts is some technical support on the daily chart.

This article was written by Eamonn Sheridan at www.forexlive.com.

• Major indices close lower on the day/higher for the week
• Crude oil settles at $75.53
• US consumer credit for April rises by $6.40B versus $11.0B increase estimate
• With the Bank of Canada, ECB and jobs in the rear view mirror, the Fed is ahead
• ECB Pres. Lagarde: Still a long way to go until inflation is defeated
• Baker Hughes oil rigs -4 to 492 rigs
• J.P. Morgan changes first Fed rate cut to November from July
• Major European indices close the week little changed
• Atlanta Fed GDPNow growth estimate for Q2 rises to 3.1% versus 2.8% yesterday
• Nick Timiraos from WSJ: What does jobs report mean to Fed? Not much.
• Lael Brainard (NEC director): US jobs report is good news for American workers
• US wholesale inventories for April 0.1% versus 0.2% estimate
• Kickstart the FX trading day for June 7 w/a technical look at the EURUSD, USDJPY & GBPUSD
• US May non-farm payrolls 272K vs +185K expected
• Canada May employment change 26.7k vs 22.5k expected
• The JPY is the strongest and the NZD is the weakest as the NA session begins
• ForexLive European FX news wrap: ECB tries to justify rate cut, gold dips on China
• ECB’s Centeno: The message is one of confidence in the disinflation process
• ECB’s Villeroy: We will move at appropriate pace on rate cuts
• ECB’s Holzmann: I was the only one against a rate cut
• ECB’s Schnabel: We cannot pre-commit to a particular rate path
• ECB’s Rehn: Inflation will continue to decline
• ECB’s de Guindos: Inflation is to be around 2% next year
• ECB’s Nagel: The decision to cut rates was not premature

The US jobs report came in stronger, but then again there was some ambiguous/less strong components.

• Non-farm payroll rose 272K vs 185K estimate.
• Private payrolls rose 229K vs 170K estimate
• Average hourly earnings rose 0.4% vs 0.3% expected
• Average earnings YoY rose 4.1% vs 3.9% expected

Those were the stronger-than-expected pieces of the report.

The not so strong parts were:

• Unemployment rate rising to 4.0% from 3.9%.
• The survey of households used to compute the unemployment rate showed that the level of people who reported holding jobs fell by -408,000.
• The household survey also showed that full-time workers declined by -625,000, while those holding part-time positions increased by 286,000.

The household survey is typically more volatile than the establishment survey, which showed the significant payroll gains.

Liz Ann Sonders of Schwab to CNBC said that,

“On the surface, [the report] was hot, but you’ve also got a bigger drop in household employment. For what it’s worth, that tends to be a more accurate signal when you’re at an inflection point in the economy. You can find weakness in the underlying numbers.”Next week, the markets will get the Fed’s take on the report when they announce its interest rate decision on Wednesday. The Fed is expected to keep rates unchanged. The market will be focused on the Fed’s expectations for the end of year rate. At the March meeting, they still saw 3 cuts. That is likely to be lowered to 1-2 (the market about 40 pips of cuts between now and the end of the year).

The markets reaction today saw the USD move higher by 0.52% to 1.53% vs the major currencies. The NZD and the AUD were sold as commodities were sold. China gold purchases were lower last month and the higher dollar and higher yields gave sellers another reason to sell commodities. That tends to weaken the NZD and the AUD whose economies are more commodity-dependent.

• Gold prices today tumbled -$82 or -3.45% to $2293.49. The % decline was the steepest since November 6, 2020.
• Silver prices felt $-2.14 or -6.88% to $29.14 which was its worst % decline since February 2021.
• Copper prices also fell sharply with a -4.82% decline.

The price of Bitcoin reached high of $71949 intraday, but is trading at $69,156 currently. Ethereum is trading at $3684.80 after reaching a high of $3839.70.

Yields moved higher, erasing some of the declines seen this week

• 2 year yield 4.888%, +15.9 basis points. The 2-year yield is near unchanged for the week
• 5-year yield 4.462%, +17.1 basis points. The yield is down -4.6 basis points for the week.
• 10 year yield 4.435%, +15.5 basis points. The yield is down -6.7 basis points for the week.
• 30-year yield 4.554%, was 12.5 basis points. The yield is down -9.6 basis points for the week.

Next week in addition to the FOMC rate decision, the U.S. Treasury will auction off 3, 10, 30-year coupon issues on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday respectively. It will be tricky with the Fed rate decision between the 10 in 30-year auctions scheduled for Tuesday and Thursday. The Fed decision will be announced on Wednesday.

In the US stock market today, the S&P and NASDAQ indices backed off their record closing levels with modest declines, but still closed higher for the week.

• Dow industrial average fell -0.22% on the day but rose 0.29% for the week.
• S&P index fell -0.11% on the day, but rose 1.32% for the week
• NASDAQ index fell -0.23% on the day, but rose 2.3% for the week

Thank you for your patience and support this week. Adam is hoping to be back in the 1st half of next week. I am hope that all have a happy and safe weekend.

This article was written by Greg Michalowski at www.forexlive.com.

The S&P index reached a site today of 5375.08. That is its new all-time record high. The gains could not be maintained and the price moved into negative territory by the close.

The NASDAQ index traded to a new record high yesterday at 17235.73. Today it’s high-price could only get to 17229.31 before rotating lower into the close.

The final numbers are showing:

• Dow industrial average fell -87.20 points or -0.22% at 36799.00
• S&P index fell -5.97 points or -0.11% at 5346.98
• NASDAQ index -39.99 points or -0.23% at 17133.13

For the trading week, the major indices rebounded from last week’s declines:

• Dow Industrial Average rose 0.29%
• S&P index rose 1.32%
• NASDAQ index rose 2.38%

Looking at some of the major large-cap stocks this week:

• Nvidia +10.29%.The company moved above $3T for the first time ever and was the second largest capitalized stock overtaking Apple, but has reversed positions into the close
• CrowdStrike, +11.42%
• Apple, +2.41%
• Microsoft, +2.10%
• Meta Platforms, +5.6%
• Palantir, +7.52%
• Amazon +4.455%
• Alphabet, +1.14%
• Tesla, -0.33%

The meme stock, Gamestop closed the week higher by 21.95% after falling -39.3% today. Roaring Kitty (ie.Keith Gill) went live on YouTube and rambled on and on with the best of them, but was not able to ignite any buying interest. Shares are closing the week at $28.22. .

This article was written by Greg Michalowski at www.forexlive.com.

For the week, the price is down -$0.38 or -0.50%.

The prices also settling below its 200 week moving average for the first time since January 2021. That 200 week moving average comes in at $75.95

This article was written by Greg Michalowski at www.forexlive.com.

• Prior month $6.27 billion revised down to $-1.10 billion
• Consumer credit $6.4 billion vs $11.0 billion estimate

This article was written by Greg Michalowski at www.forexlive.com.

The Bank of Canada announced their interest rate decision on Wednesday. The central bank cut from what is restrictive policy, but acknowledge further cuts are dependent on upcoming data.

BANK OF CANADA RATE STATEMENT REVIEW

• „The Bank of Canada today reduced its target for the overnight rate to 4¾%, with the Bank Rate at 5% and the deposit rate at 4¾%.“
• „The Bank is continuing its policy of balance sheet normalization.“
• „The global economy grew by about 3% in the first quarter of 2024, broadly in line with the Bank’s April Monetary Policy Report (MPR) projection.“
• „In the United States, the economy expanded more slowly than was expected, as weakness in exports and inventories weighed on activity.“
• „Growth in private domestic demand remained strong but eased.“
• „In the euro area, activity picked up in the first quarter of 2024.“
• „China’s economy was also stronger in the first quarter, buoyed by exports and industrial production, although domestic demand remained weak.“
• „Inflation in most advanced economies continues to ease, although progress towards price stability is bumpy and is proceeding at different speeds across regions.“
• „In Canada, economic growth resumed in the first quarter of 2024 after stalling in the second half of last year.“
• „At 1.7%, first-quarter GDP growth was slower than forecast in the MPR.“
• „Consumption growth was solid at about 3%, and business investment and housing activity also increased.“
• „Labour market data show businesses continue to hire, although employment has been growing at a slower pace than the working-age population.“
• „Wage pressures remain but look to be moderating gradually.“
• „Overall, recent data suggest the economy is still operating in excess supply.“
• „CPI inflation eased further in April, to 2.7%.“
• „The Bank’s preferred measures of core inflation also slowed and three-month measures suggest continued downward momentum.“
• „Indicators of the breadth of price increases across components of the CPI have moved down further and are near their historical average.“
• „However, shelter price inflation remains high.“
• „With continued evidence that underlying inflation is easing, Governing Council agreed that monetary policy no longer needs to be as restrictive and reduced the policy interest rate by 25 basis points.“
• „Recent data has increased our confidence that inflation will continue to move towards the 2% target.“
• „Governing Council is closely watching the evolution of core inflation and remains particularly focused on the balance between demand and supply in the economy, inflation expectations, wage growth, and corporate pricing behaviour.“
• „The Bank remains resolute in its commitment to restoring price stability for Canadians.“

Summary of BOC Macklems press conference:

Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem emphasized that interest rate decisions will be made on a meeting-by-meeting basis, depending on economic data. He said that if the economy continues to perform as expected and inflation eases, further rate cuts can be anticipated. Macklem is determined to bring inflation back to the 2% target but acknowledges that the work is not done and will evolve with the situation.

Macklem noted that the economy has broadly evolved as expected, boosting confidence that inflation will gradually return to the 2% target. However, the timing of any further cuts will depend on incoming data, with recognition of potential risks and bumps along the way.

Macklem stated that their forecasts indicate a gradual move towards the inflation target, but there are limits to how far their policy can diverge from the U.S., and they are not close to those limits. He also mentioned expectations for slower population growth, which has been factored into their forecasts. Population growth has eased employment pressures but increased demand for housing.

HE feells that the economy appears to be heading for a soft landing, with room for growth above potential for a period. While the Bank of Canada is normalizing its balance sheet, the policy remains restrictive due to inflation being above target. Macklem stated that interest rates will not return to pre-Covid levels and acknowledged past periods of significant divergence with the U.S. Federal Reserve.

On Thursday, the ECB also cut rates and like the BOC, the path for rates going forward is dependent on the data.

ECB RATE STATEMENT REVIEW

• „The Governing Council today decided to lower the three key ECB interest rates by 25 basis points.“
• „Based on an updated assessment of the inflation outlook, the dynamics of underlying inflation and the strength of monetary policy transmission, it is now appropriate to moderate the degree of monetary policy restriction after nine months of holding rates steady.“
• „Since the Governing Council meeting in September 2023, inflation has fallen by more than 2.5 percentage points and the inflation outlook has improved markedly.“
• „Underlying inflation has also eased, reinforcing the signs that price pressures have weakened, and inflation expectations have declined at all horizons.“
• „Despite the progress over recent quarters, domestic price pressures remain strong as wage growth is elevated, and inflation is likely to stay above target well into next year.“
• „The latest Eurosystem staff projections for both headline and core inflation have been revised up for 2024 and 2025 compared with the March projections.“
• „Staff now see headline inflation averaging 2.5% in 2024, 2.2% in 2025 and 1.9% in 2026.“
• „For inflation excluding energy and food, staff project an average of 2.8% in 2024, 2.2% in 2025 and 2.0% in 2026.“
• „Economic growth is expected to pick up to 0.9% in 2024, 1.4% in 2025 and 1.6% in 2026.“
• „The Governing Council is determined to ensure that inflation returns to its 2% medium-term target in a timely manner.“
• „It will keep policy rates sufficiently restrictive for as long as necessary to achieve this aim.“
• „The Governing Council will continue to follow a data-dependent and meeting-by-meeting approach to determining the appropriate level and duration of restriction.“
• „The Governing Council today also confirmed that it will reduce the Eurosystem’s holdings of securities under the pandemic emergency purchase programme (PEPP) by €7.5 billion per month on average over the second half of the year.“
• „The Governing Council decided to lower the three key ECB interest rates by 25 basis points.“
• „The interest rate on the main refinancing operations and the interest rates on the marginal lending facility and the deposit facility will be decreased to 4.25%, 4.50% and 3.75% respectively, with effect from 12 June 2024.“

Summary of ECB Pres. Lagarde’s press conference said:

In October 2022, inflation peaked at double digits, but by September 2023, it had reduced to 5.2%, and currently, it stands at 2.6%. President Lagarde emphasized the need for more data to confirm the disinflationary path, noting that while restrictive measures were more pronounced in September, various factors such as base effects and wage trends could introduce uncertainties. Wages, particularly in the services sector, play a significant role in inflation. Although wages remain elevated, there are signs of a recent decline, and the ECB must consider wage divergences across countries and the impact on services prices.

The ECB’s policy decisions and data releases are not perfectly synchronized, making it difficult to predict future actions. Lagarde stated that market pricing of rate cuts is independent of ECB decisions, which have resulted in a reduction of anticipated rate cuts from 64 bps to 36 bps for the remainder of the year, totaling ~61 bps. Despite various challenges, including unanticipated bumps in the disinflationary process, the ECB is committed to bringing inflation back to the 2% target in the medium term. The decision to moderate the restrictive stance was almost unanimous, except for one governor. The ECB will continue to take a serious approach to combating inflation, staying restrictive until the 2% target is achieved. Lagarde affirmed that the ECB is far from reaching the neutral rate, which remains a key objective.

The Fed and BOJ are next

Next week the Fed will announce their rate decision on Wednesday while the Bank of Japan will announce its intentions on Friday.

For the Fed, the Fed is expected to keep rates unchanged. Inflation remains sticky and although the most recent CPI and PCE data was encouraging, it remains above the target rate. Many of the Fed officials – including Fed Chair Powell – have expressed the need to keep rates unchanged given solid growth and higher-than-expected inflation in the 1Q. The Atlanta Fed GDPNow growth estimate did decline to 1.8% recently, but has bounced back to 3.1% helped by the US jobs report today.

What will be of interest to the markets on Wednesday will be the projections for GDP, inflation and employment going forward, as well as the dot-plot of rate expectations at the end of 2024, 2025 and 2026 – especially the expectations for the end of 2024 (let’s face it, 2024 is hard enough. To forecast 2025 and 2026 is nice but just a guess). The median of growth, employment and inflation from March’s projections showed GDP at 2.1% in 2024, unemployment at 4.0% and Core PCE at 2.6%. GDP is higher than that currently which may prompt a move higher in their end of year forecast. THe unemployment rate reached 4.0% today and as a result, may be raised as well. The Core PCE may be a touch low given the stickiness.

The dot plot forecast 3 cuts by the end of the year in March (target 4.6%). The market is currently pricing in about 40 basis points by the end of the year. That sounds about right.

Below is the look at the dot plot. It is hard to believe at the end of last year the Fed forecast 6 cuts in 2024.

The Bank of Japan is on a different path as they still maintain expansionary policy. They may look to pull back on bond buying when they announce its rate decision on Friday.

This article was written by Greg Michalowski at www.forexlive.com.

• Gold takes a dip on headline that China halts reserves buying after 18-month stretch
• Why gold dropped on the headline about China halting reserves buying?
• ECB’s Holzmann: I was the only one against a rate cut
• ECB’s Centeno: The message is one of confidence in the disinflation process
• ECB’s Villeroy: We will move at appropriate pace on rate cuts
• ECB’s Schnabel: We cannot pre-commit to a particular rate path
• ECB’s Rehn: Inflation will continue to decline
• ECB’s de Guindos: Inflation is to be around 2% next year
• ECB’s Nagel: The decision to cut rates was not premature
• ECB’s Šimkus: It is possible that there will be more than one rate cut this year
• ECB’s Nagel: Policy is not auto pilot when it comes to rate cuts
• Eurozone Q1 final GDP +0.3% vs +0.3% q/q second estimate
• Germany April industrial production -0.1% vs +0.3% m/m expected
• Germany April trade balance €22.1 billion vs €22.6 billion expected
• France April trade balance -€7.58 billion vs -€5.47 billion prior
• UK May Halifax house prices -0.1% vs +0.2% m/m expected

Markets:

• JPY leads, NZD lags on the day
• European equities lower; S&P 500 futures down 0.1%
• US 10-year yields up 1.9 bps to 4.300%
• Gold down 1.7% to $2,334.82
• WTI crude up 0.6% to $76.05
• Bitcoin up 1.0% to $71,395

It was mostly a session waiting on the US jobs report later. But there were a decent number of headlines to keep things moving along. And they were mostly all from the ECB, as policymakers were out en masse to try and justify the decision to cut rates yesterday.

Their commentary added nothing new to the picture though, with July being too soon for the next rate cut. September remains open but will be subject to the data in the next few months.

Major currencies kept more muted as such, with all the anticipation surrounding the non-farm payrolls data later. The dollar is steadier and keeping little changed overall. Dollar pairs are holding within 0.1% change of one another throughout the day. Talk about a snoozefest.

Equities remain more tentative, with European stocks retreating amid the perceived „hawkish cut“ by the ECB yesterday. US futures remain more muted ahead of the main event later.

Instead, precious metals were the big mover on the session. Gold took a dive after China halts buying for its reserves, following an 18-month streak in doing so. Are prices getting a bit too high perhaps? In any case, gold fell from $2,370 to $2,335 now. Meanwhile, silver was also dragged down in a push lower from $31.20 to $30.42 currently.

It’s over to the US jobs report next.

This article was written by Justin Low at www.forexlive.com.