Soft US jobs growth and downward revisions spur bets against further Fed tightening, lifting XAU/USD to a 10-day high.
Gold (XAU/USD) climbed to near $4,200 in Asian trading Friday, extending a three-day rally to its highest level since late June. The move marks the first weekly gain in five weeks for the non-yielding metal.
The catalyst was Thursday’s US Nonfarm Payrolls report, which showed only 57K jobs added in June, well below the 110K consensus. May’s figure was also revised down sharply to 129K from 172K. The unemployment rate dipped to 4.2%, but the overall data reinforced expectations of cooling labor demand.
Traders now price in fewer than one Fed rate hike in 2026, down from earlier bets of two increases. The shift weighed on the USD, which hovered near a two-week low, further supporting gold prices.