Gold halts winning streak, ending last week’s rally

LONDON (January 13) Gold’s price (XAU/USD) takes a step back and halts its four-day winning streak on Monday as markets catch up and reprice the recent US Nonfarm Payrolls release. The report further confirms the narrative that the Federal Reserve (Fed) might keep its policy rate higher for longer. While higher borrowing costs are typically negative for the non-interest-bearing precious metal, investors are bracing for more volatility ahead of President-elect Donald Trump’s return to the White House on January 20. 

On the economic data front, there is a relatively calm trading day ahead, with the dust settling further after the recent US Nonfarm Payrolls release. This Monday, the US Treasury will allocate some short-term bonds to the market. 

Daily digest market movers: Time to settle 

• Operations at Wilton Resources’ Ciemas Gold Project in Indonesia remained suspended due to the continued power outage amid heavy rainfall caused by the La Nina phenomenon, according to a Friday press release, Bloomberg reports. 
•  The Indonesian unit, Masmindo Dwi Area, picked Macmahon as the mining services contractor for the Awak Mas gold project in South Sulawesi, according to an exchange filing, Bloomberg reports. The contract is valued at A$463 million over seven years and is expected to start in mid-2025.
• At 16:30 GMT, three-month and six-month bills are due to be auctioned by the US Treasury. 
• The US 10-year benchmark rate trades at 4.782% at the time of writing on Monday, a touch lower than the peak at opening in Asia near 4.796%.
• At 21:30 GMT,  the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) will release the Gold NC Net Positions. A forecast is not available, but the previous positioning was at $247,300. The report provides information on the size and direction of the positions taken across all maturities, participants primarily based in Chicago and New York futures markets. Forex traders focus on "non-commercial" or speculative positions to determine whether a trend remains healthy or not, as well as market sentiment towards a certain asset.

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