Gold erases part of this week's gains, trades above $1,510
- 10-year US Treasury bond yield post modest recovery gains.
- US Dollar Index consolidates above 98 handle on Friday.
- Gold remains on track to post weekly gains for third straight week.
The precious metal struggles to extend its rally on Friday as the improved market sentiment dampens the demand for traditional safe-havens. After slumping to a daily low of $1,506, however, the XAU/USD pair recovered modestly and was last seen trading near $1,515, still losing 0.55% on the day. Despite today's pullback, the pair remains on track to post weekly gains for the 12th time in the last 13 weeks.
Reflecting the positive market mood, the 10-year US Treasury bond yield is rising more than 1% today and the S&P 500 Futures is adding 0.9%, suggesting that Wall Street is likely to start the day sharply higher. However, the fact that there were no fresh developments surrounding the US-China trade conflict today suggests that the recovery in sentiment is unlikely to gather momentum in the near-term.
USD stays strong ahead of data
In the meantime, the rebound in the T-bond yields seems to be helping the Greenback preserve its strength. Unless it makes a surprise drop below the 97.54 mark, the US Dollar Index (DXY) will finish the week in the positive territory, erasing the losses it suffered last week. At the moment, the DXY is up 0.15% on the day at 98.30.
Later in the day, the US Census Bureau will release monthly Housing Starts and Building Permits data. The US economic docket will also feature the University of Michigan's Consumer Confidence Index (preliminary) for August.
Technical levels to watch for
Author
Eren Sengezer
FXStreet
As an economist at heart, Eren Sengezer specializes in the assessment of the short-term and long-term impacts of macroeconomic data, central bank policies and political developments on financial assets.
