Gold Price Forecast: XAU/USD turns sideways above $1,760 as investors await US NFP

• Gold price is turning to a balanced auction profile ahead of US NFP data.
• Soaring interest rates and a halt in the recruitment process by US firms will weigh on job opportunities.
• A preliminary estimate for the US NFP is 250k, lower than the prior release of 372k.

Gold price (XAU/USD) is displaying topsy-turvy moves above the immediate cushion of $1,760.00 in the early Asian session. Earlier, the precious metal displayed a responsive buying action after hitting a low of $1,756.00 on Wednesday. The bright metal defended its two-day low and has climbed to near $1,764.00. Going forward, the FX domain will prepare a base for the release of the US Nonfarm Payrolls (NFP), which will determine the further direction for the asset.

There is no denying the fact that rising interest rates by the Federal Reserve (Fed) have forced the corporate players to inculcate extra filters while scrutiny of the investment opportunities. Firms are doing a lot of brainstorming before investing costly dollars in projects. This has accelerated the odds of serious damage to the job creation process.

Apart from that, commentaries from giant techs discussing halting the recruitment process for the remaining year will result in a steep fall in employment opportunities. Therefore, investors have estimated 250k job additions in the labor market in the month of July against June’s print of 372k. A vulnerable figure from this number could drive gold prices significantly higher.

Gold technical analysis

On a four-hour scale, the gold prices will find significant bids near the lower portion of the Rising Channel placed from July 21 low at $1,681.87 while the upper portion is plotted from July 22 high at $1,739.37.

The gold prices are overlapping with the 200-period Exponential Moving Average (EMA) at $1,764.11, which indicates a make-or-break scenario for the gold bulls. While the 50-EMA at $1,752.16 is advancing will indicates an upside ahead.

Meanwhile, the Relative Strength Index (RSI) (14) has shifted into the 40.00-60.00 range, which indicates a consolidation ahead.

Gold four-hour chart