Odaily Planet Daily News - Analyst Haresh Menghani stated that gold maintained a slight downward trend in the first half of the European session. However, ahead of the closely watched US non-farm payroll data release, investors are adopting a wait-and-see approach, and the gold price lacks firm downward momentum. Key US employment data will provide clues for the Federal Reserve’s rate-cutting path, which in turn will play a crucial role in affecting the short-term movement of the US dollar and bring new momentum to gold. Amid risk-aversion sentiment ahead of the key data release, the US dollar extended its upward trend of two consecutive weeks and touched a one-month high, exerting some downward pressure on gold prices. However, rising market expectations for further rate cuts by the Federal Reserve, coupled with persistent geopolitical uncertainty, continue to provide support for gold as a safe-haven asset. Against this background of mixed bullish and bearish fundamentals, traders are unwilling to make new directional bets, resulting in lackluster gold price movements and a range-bound consolidation pattern. (Jinshi)