Gold price eases on upbeat United States data, hawkish Fed talks

Gold price witnessed a pullback on Friday as upbeat United States employment data renewed hawkish Federal Reserve (Fed) concerns.

That said, the US employment report for April surprised markets by unveiling a jump in the headline Nonfarm Payrolls (NFP) by 253K expected and revised down prior readings of 165K. Further, the Unemployment Rate also eased to 3.4% versus 3.5% market forecasts and previous mark whereas Average Hourly Earnings improved to 4.4% YoY from 4.3% prior (revised) and analysts’ estimations of 4.2%.

Following the upbeat US employment report, St. Louis Federal Reserve President James Bullard, who supported the 25 basis point rate hike that the Fed took last week, called it "a good next step." The policymaker cited significant amount of inflation in the economy and "very tight" labor market to back his hawkish bias. His comments renew hopes of a one more 0.25% Fed rate hike in June, which in turn prod Gold buyers after the commodity refreshed all-time high.