Weaker Again After Friday’s Small Decline

Gold is 0.5% weaker in the Asia-Pac session, after closing +0.1% at $2045.45 on Friday.

• Volatility in Friday’s session was tied to swings in the USD index after mixed results from economic data releases.
• The impact of a higher-than-expected jobs gain was tempered by downward revisions for the two prior releases (Dec jobs gain of 216k vs. 175k est, prior revised to 173k from 199k).
• Meanwhile, ISM services data came in lower-than-expected at 50.6 vs. 52.5 estimate, with ISM Services Employment (43.3 vs. 51.0 est) and Services New Orders (52.8 vs. 56.1 est).
• The US Treasury 10-year yield finished up 5bps at 4.05%, with the 2-year rate unchanged at 4.38%. It was the second consecutive session with the 10-year closing above 4%, the first time since December 13.
• According to MNI’s technicals team, Friday’s low cleared support at $2040.2 (20-day EMA), with a more pronounced move lower potentially opening $1973.2 (Dec 13 low).