06/10/2016
Gold prices continued to struggle near the lowest level in almost four months during Europe's session on Thursday, as market players looked ahead to data on U.S. nonfarm payrolls on Friday for fresh clues on the likelihood of a December rate hike.
The consensus forecast is that the data will show jobs growth of 175,000 in September, following an increase of 151,000 in August. The unemployment rate is forecast to hold steady at 4.9%, while average hourly earnings are expected to rise 0.2% after gaining 0.1% a month earlier.
A strong nonfarm payrolls report would reinforce the view that a U.S. rate hike in December may be on the cards, after hawkish signals from senior Fed officials in recent weeks revived speculation of a rate hike before the end of the year.