Gold (XAU/USD) extends Wednesday’s 4% spike on Thursday, trading around $4,260 and holding near a seven-week high as a softer US Dollar (USD) and retreating Treasury yields reinforce the metal’s recovery.
What distinguishes Thursday’s session is that Gold is climbing alongside Crude Oil rather than against it
Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi told the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) that the agreement would not automatically reopen the waterway. According to a senior Gulf official, there is a 50% chance that Iran and Oman will reach a deal by Friday. Meanwhile, United States (US) Vice President JD Vance told Fox News that talks with Iran were “messy,” calling Iranians “extraordinarily difficult people.” Reuters has separately reported that the proposal could hand Tehran control over inbound traffic, a formulation Washington has repeatedly rejected.
Thursday’s releases were more mixed, with Initial Jobless Claims at 199K against the 202K consensus and Challenger Job Cuts easing to 33.4K from 45.8K, describing a labor market cooling through slower hiring rather than rising layoffs. Softer employment data have trimmed the odds of a September Federal Reserve (Fed) hike, a straightforward tailwind for a non-yielding asset. Friday’s Nonfarm Payrolls report is the immediate hurdle as a Reuters survey points to an 80K gain in July after June’s 57K, with the Unemployment Rate steady at 4.2%.