Gold prices continued to decline lower after being weighed down by increases in U.S. bond yields and strong U.S. dollar trading ahead of the release of NFP jobs data tonight.
In the Asian session, the precious metal traded lower at around $ 1,800 an ounce, while gold futures were down at $ 1,803 an ounce.
10 -year U.S. bond yields continued to rise to 1.23%, driven by a better outlook on the U.S. economy following hawkish statements by Federal Reserve (Fed) policymakers on Wednesday.
Fed Vice Chairman Richard Clarida said greater progress would be made in employment and inflation targets that would pave the way for central banks to tighten their monetary policy.
In addition, the decline in US jobless claims data also provided support for bond and USD yields, with a decline of 385,000 last week. This brings the average number of unemployment claims down to 394,000 in July.
Rising bond yields and demand for the U.S. dollar indicate that investors are expecting a stronger reading of the NFP, which is expected to add as much as 870,000 jobs in July.
This causes gold investors to be more cautious in placing positions on gold trading.
