Gold Declines Over 2.5% This Week, Retracing Nearly 50% of Recent Rally

As of 6 PM ET, gold's most active June futures contract fell $50.90 to $3,248.30. This week's decline of $81.90 (2.46%) from Monday's opening of $3,336.50 marks the third consecutive day of losses, coinciding with reports that the U.S. economy contracted in Q1 2025. The Department of Labor also reported initial jobless claims rose by 18,000 to 241,000 last week, the highest level since February 22.

Market participants now await Friday's nonfarm payroll report, with economists forecasting an addition of 133,000 jobs, significantly down from March's 228,000.

Ole Hansen, head of commodity strategy at Saxo Bank, noted: "Disappointing economic prints this week from both the U.S. and China underscore the fragile state of the global economy and reignite fears of a tariff-driven growth slump."

Gold's recent rally began April 7 when June futures hit a low of $2,971.40. After brief consolidation, gold surged on April 9, opening at $2,998.80 and closing over $100 higher at $3,099.80. The subsequent rally peaked at a record intraday high of $3,509.90 on April 22, before closing lower by $43 at $3,392.

Over the following seven trading days, gold declined to today's settlement of $3,248.30—just $8 above the 50% retracement level of $3,240.60. Gold has now finished lower in six of the last eight sessions. While dollar strength contributed to the decline, most of the pullback stems from direct market selling pressure on the precious metal.

Wishing you, as always, good trading,