Gold May Witness Gains At 28871, Resistance 29034

Gold settled up 1.02% at 28871 jumped as growing concerns over the conflict in eastern Ukraine overshadowed stronger than expected U.S. jobs data. Ukraine's army and pro-Russian rebels continued to skirmish on Friday, stoking fears that the crisis will develop and drag the U.S. deeper into the standoff. The UN’s Security Council met about Ukraine on Friday in an emergency session, while U.S. President Obama threatened to slap fresh sanctions on Russia if Moscow disrupts Ukrainian elections scheduled for May 25.

The West is accusing Russia of leading a separatist revolt in eastern Ukraine after it annexed Crimea last month. Meanwhile, market players digested a report showing that the U.S. economy added jobs at the fastest pace in more than two years in April, but also showed weaker earn ings growth and a drop in labor force participation. The Labor Department reported Friday that the U.S. economy added 288,000 jobs in April, well above expectations for jobs growth of 210k.

The U.S. Unemploy ment rate dropped to a five-and-a-half year low of 6.3%. The report also showed that the labor force participation rate, which measures the proportion of people either working or looking for work, fell to 62. 8% from 63.2% in March. The U.S. central bank acknowledged that first quarter growth was far weaker than expected, but added that growth had started to pick up in recent weeks. In the week ahead, investors will be look ing ahead to Monday’s report on U.S. service sector activity and Wednesday’s testimony by Fed Chair Janet Yellen on monetary policy and the economy. Technically market is under fresh buying and getting support a t 28565 and below same could see a test of 28258 level, and resistance is now likely to be seen at 29034, a move above could see prices testing 29196.