Gold remains flat lined at 6-week lows ahead of the NFP report

Gold trades in the sideways manner at the six-week low of $1228/Oz ahead of the US jobs report, which could show the economy added 185K jobs in April. 

Trades below 38.2% fib

As of now, the yellow metal is trading below $1229.51 (38.2% fib retracement of Dec low - Apr high). The metal was offered after the Fed statement released on Wednesday called the first quarter weakness in the US economy ‘transitory’ and sounded upbeat on inflation.

The market responded by boosting the June rate hike bets to 90%, leading to a sharp drop in gold.

A strong US payrolls and wage growth number could trigger another wave of selling in the yellow metal. Moreover, the metal looks set to end lower for the third consecutive week irrespective of the quality of the US payrolls data.

Check out the NFP preview - Nonfarm Payrolls Forecast: who cares? USD will fall anyway

Gold Technical Levels

A break above $1229.51 (38.2% fib) would open up upside towards $1241.13 (Mar 24 low) and $1247.31 (Apr 10 low). On the lower side, breach of support at $1225.57 (previous day’s low) would expose $1216.80 (Feb 15 low) and $1209.14 (50% fib).