Fundamental Forecast for Gold:Neutral

Gold prices rallied for a third consecutive week with the precious metal up more than 0.8% to trade at 1276 ahead of the New York close on Friday. The advance comes alongside continued strength in broader risk assets with all three major U.S. indices looking to close at fresh record highs. Bullion prices are now back at key structural resistance levels and heading into the start of June trade, this seemingly symbiotic relationship with risk

U.S. Non-Farm Payrolls disappointed on Friday with a lackluster print of just 138K as the Labor Force Participation rate fell to 62.7%, its lowest clip since December. Still, even with downward revisions to last month's strong report, the expectations for a Fed rate-hike this month remain well anchored with Fed Fund Futures pricing a greater than 80% probability. Looking ahead to next week, traders will be eagerly awaiting central bank rate decisions from the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) & the European Central Bank (ECB). For gold prices however, the focus is on a key technical resistance slope extending off the all-time record highs – a level that is now in focus heading into June trade.