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Gold hits new record high, on track for ninth weekly rise

· Gold scaled a new all-time peak on Friday and was set for its ninth straight weekly gain, as demand was boosted by a softer dollar, falling U.S. Treasury yields and worries over the global economic fallout from rising COVID-19 cases.

· Spot gold was up 0.3% at $2,068.32 per ounce by 0035 GMT, having hit a record high of $2,072.50 in early Asian trade. Bullion is up more than 4.7% so far this week.

· U.S. gold futures rose 0.5% to $2,078.70.

· The dollar index held close to a more than two-year low and was heading for its seventh consecutive weekly decline. A weaker greenback makes gold less expensive for holders of other currencies.

· Benchmark 10-year Treasury yields fell to their lowest levels in five months, reducing the opportunity cost of holding non-interest bearing gold.

· Coronavirus cases continue to surge in the United States and stood at more than 18.94 million globally.

· Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said the U.S. economy needs an “additional boost” to cope with the fallout from the pandemic, as Republicans and Democrats remained far apart about what to include in another wave of coronavirus stimulus.

· The number of Americans seeking jobless benefits fell last week, but a staggering 31.3 million people were receiving unemployment checks in mid-July, suggesting the labor market was stalling.

· Investors’ focus will be on the U.S. nonfarm payroll data due later in the day.

· Asia shares were poised to open higher on Friday, tracking global equity markets’ overnight gains.

· Gold Price Forecast: Dollar pullback caps the upside ahead of NFP

Gold (XAU/USD) built on the ongoing rally and refreshed all-time highs at $2075.32 on Friday before pulling back sharply towards $2050, as focus shifts to the US Non-Farm Payrolls data (NFP) for a fresh direction. The upside bias remains intact as markets expect the US economy to add 1600K jobs in July vs. 4800K job gains seen in June, suggesting that the worsening coronavirus situation is slowing down the jobs growth.

XAU/USD charted a rising wedge breakdown on the hourly chart following a close below the $2060 level. The bearish break opens doors for a test of the pattern target at $2000 mark.

Ahead of the upward-sloping 50-hourly Simple Moving Average (HMA) at $2048 could offer some respite the bulls. Selling pressure will intensify below the latter, with the next downside target seen at the bullish 100-HMA at $2016.

The hourly-Relative Strength Index (RSI) has turned flat at the midline, suggesting that the bears could likely lack any follow-though.

Any rebound will face stiff resistance at $2060, the convergence of the previous pattern support-turned-resistance and upward-sloping 21-HMA.

Acceptance above which a test of the record highs will be inevitable. Thereafter, bulls will aim for the $2100 threshold.

· Silver jumped 2.6% to $29.68 per ounce, while platinum dropped 0.9% to $988.76 and palladium climbed 0.5% to $2,232.40.

Reference: CNBC, FXStreet