The Non-Farm Payrolls (NFP) data released from the United States tonight unveiled results that significantly surpassed expectations, showing an actual figure of 256,000 against a forecast of 160,000. This number reflects remarkable job growth, indicating that the US labor market remains robust despite concerns over a potential global economic slowdown.
Subsequent to the release of this data, gold prices plummeted sharply to a low of $2,664 as the better-than-anticipated labor report intensified expectations that the Federal Reserve would uphold its strict monetary policies. This scenario also led to a considerable strengthening of the US dollar, which in turn pressured gold prices. The decline in gold is typical, as the precious metal often moves inversely to the dollar.
Market participants are now shifting their attention to additional supporting data such as inflation reports and statements from Federal Reserve officials to gain a clearer understanding of upcoming policy moves. However, with such solid NFP figures, downward pressure on gold is likely to persist in the short term.
In addition to gold, other major currency pairs also experienced significant drops in response to the US NFP data, with GBPUSD falling to 1.2190 and EURUSD hitting a monthly low of 1.0212.
