Upbeat United States data, ECB move weigh on XAU/USD

During the last week, upbeat United States data and the European Central Bank’s (ECB) dovish hike propelled the US Dollar and weighed on the Gold price, despite Friday’s corrective bounce due to the softer inflation clues from the US.

That said, the US Federal Reserve’s (Fed) favorite inflation gauge, namely the Core Personal Consumption Expenditure (PCE) Price Index, came in 4.1% YoY for June versus 4.2% expected and 4.6% prior. Further details revealed that the Personal Income softened to 0.3% versus 0.5% expected and previous readings whereas the Personal Spending rose 0.5% from 0.4% market forecasts and 0.1% prior. Additionally, the final readings of the Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index for July eased to 71.6 from the initial estimations of 72.6 while the University of Michigan’s (UoM) 5-year Consumer Inflation Expectations also edged lower to 3.0% from 3.1% expected and prior.

That said, strong prints of the US Gross Domestic Product (GDP) Annualized for the second quarter (Q2) joined the upbeat figures of the US Durable Goods Orders for June to allow the US Dollar to stay firmer for the second consecutive week. Also likely to have favored the US Dollar, is the European Central Bank’s (ECB) dovish hike and emphasis on the data-dependency of the next rate decision.

Amid these plays, Wall Street closed positive and the yields retreated together with the US Dollar. Even so, the US Dollar Index (DXY) marked two consecutive weekly gains by the end of Friday’s trading. It’s worth noting that the S&P500 Futures print mild gains by the press time.

China/US PMI, NFP will be crucial for Gold traders

Although the latest headlines have been impressive for the Gold buyers, China’s official PMIs for July will entertain intraday traders of the XAU/USD. However, major attention will be given to the United Staes ISM PMI and Nonfarm Payrolls (NFP) data for July.