Gold: an overview of the market situation

Gold prices fell markedly today, which was associated with the strengthening of the U.S. dollar against the backdrop of the employment report.

As it became known, U.S. employers added a significant number of jobs in June, a sign of improvement in the labor market. Non-agricultural employment increased from a seasonally adjusted 288,000 last month, the Labor Department said Thursday. Gain May was revised to 224,000 from 217,000, while the improvement in April was increased to 304,000 from 282,000. This was the strongest increase since January 2012. The unemployment rate, derived from a separate survey of households, fell to 6.1% in June to the lowest level since September 2008. Improvement reflects more people employed, while the size of the workforce has remained relatively stable. Economists forecast that employment will increase by 211,000 and the unemployment rate to remain unchanged at 6.3%.

It is worth recalling that the decline in the unemployment rate and recovery in the U.S. labor market are able to push the Fed to change their policy and their understated rates earlier than planned increase. This step, in turn, will reduce investor demand for gold.

The course of trade also influenced the statements of the ECB's Draghi, who said that the European Central Bank remains committed to keep benchmark interest rates at a low level for a long time. During the meeting, the bank's management has decided to leave unchanged all three base rates: lending rate at 0.15% on deposits - at minus 0.1%, and the ">If we evaluate from a technical standpoint, there is a possibility of return to $ 1,300, as after two attempts have failed to overcome resistance at $ 1332.

Meanwhile, add that physical demand for gold was weak due to the recent price rally. Prices for precious metals in China were $ 1 - $ 2 lower than the world, underscoring weak demand.

The cost of the August gold futures on the COMEX today dropped to $ 1321.3 per ounce.