Gold Little Changed, Focus On NFP And U.S. Elections

Precious gold was little changed on Tuesday trading, not benefitting from the monetary easing announced by the Bank of Japan as unrest over hurricane Sandy clouds markets.

The shiny metal is still trading in the same levels seen last week; it found support at $1698.89 an ounce to trade around $1710.03 today.

The trading range for this week is expected among the key support at 1650.00 and the key resistance now at 1775.00.

Gold was not affected by the BoJ monetary decision on holding interest rates while boosting stimulus by 11 trillion yen ($138 billion) to 66 trillion yen as investors expected more amid the undergoing sluggish growth pace.

However, it seems that investors are on hold waiting for upcoming major events that will largely determine the market direction such as the infamous nonfarm jobs report and the result of U.S. elections, in addition to the peak of the festival season in the world`s largest gold buyer, India.

Meanwhile, there are worries after Sandy hurricane, the biggest storm to hit the United States, had forced markets closure for a second day.

On the other hand, there still are concerns regarding global recovery before data today may confirm the Spanish economy contracted 0.4% in the third quarter, marking the fifth quarter in a row and the continuation of recession, while European confidence is set to decline further to 84.4 in October after September's reading had showed a drop to 85.0, falling beyond the lowest level in nearly three years.

Eyes are still on Spain which did not decide on its potential bailout, while another report a report by the Troika is anticipated regarding the progress made by the government in meeting targets to become eligible of receiving an installment worth 31.45 billion euros before facing the ghost of default by November 16.

Yet, the main focus this week is the awaited non-farm payrolls report which will detect the health of the U.S. labor market after the improvement seen last month as the Fed targets further drop in unemployment rate.

Thereafter, lights will focus on the U.S. elections which are also set to decide a winner, Obama or Romney, who will decide on spending cuts plans to shore up recovery.

On the physical side, more purchasing of the metal is predicted as we are currently in the festival season in India, peaking next month with Diwali.

In the FX market, the dollar retreated against a basket of major currencies, as it slipped to a low of 80.08, noting the key support remains at 79.60 levels, which represents the Simple Moving Average (SMA) 200 level over weekly basis.

Crude oil for December's delivery is currently trading higher around $85.48 a barrel from the day's opening of $85.23.