Stronger In Asia-Pac Dealings After Finishing Unchanged on Friday

Gold is 0.3% higher in the Asia-Pac session, after closing unchanged on Friday. The precious metal gave up early gains on Friday as the USD surged and the US treasury curve bear steepened.

• According to MNI's technicals team, the USD Index looks to have resumed the primary uptrend off the mid-July lows, a factor that should keep the precious metals subdued despite the OIS-implied Fed rate path coming under pressure after the non-farm payrolls release.
• US non-farm payrolls increased by 187k in August, which was above the consensus of 170k, but the previous 2 months were revised lower by a total of 110k. The unemployment rate unexpectedly increased to 3.8%, which is the highest level since February 2022, as labour force participation picked up to 62.8%.
• US 2y yields finished trade ahead of the weekend 1.5bp higher, 10y yields added over 6bp, while 30y yields added as much as 10bp before fading modestly.
• A reminder that cash treasuries are closed today for the US Labor Day holiday observance.