Gold is slightly cheaper today, which was due to increased risk appetite after the release of strong US economic data. However, a further decline in prices is still hampered by uncertainty about the Fed raising rates outlook.

In the first quarter the price of gold rose more than 16% compared with the previous quarter, which was the biggest quarterly increase in 30 years.

Recall, on Friday, the Labor Department reported that the US economy continued to add jobs at a solid pace, which is a sign of the stability of the domestic labor market. The seasonally adjusted number of people employed in non-agricultural sector increased in March by 215 thousand., After rising by 245 thousand. In February (revised from 242 thousand.) In the meantime, the unemployment rate rose to 5.0% from 4.9%. Economists had expected employment to increase by 205 thousand., While the unemployment rate will remain at around 4.9%. On average for the last three months the number of jobs increases by 209 thousand. Per month.

"The Fed is still concerned about the global economic growth in view of this, the rate of increase will be gradual, interest rates -. Said experts ETF Securities -. The last meeting of the FOMC Minutes, which will be released on Wednesday, may provide a more complete picture of how the Fed plans to include rate hike. " Recall, higher interest rates have a downward pressure on the price of gold, which brings its holders to interest income and that is difficult to compete with the assets, bringing that income against the background of increasing interest rates. Futures on interest rates Fed point to a 5% probability of a rate hike in April and 26% probability in June.

The data of the Commission on Trade in futures trading showed that the positioning of investors in gold is largely bullish. For the week to March 29, hedge funds and money managers increased their bullish rate to its highest level since the end of 2012. In addition, it was reported that on Friday the gold reserves in the largest gold ETF-SPDR Gold Trust fund fell 0.15 percent, to 818.09 tonnes but remained near 2-year high.

As regards the technical prospects for gold, MKS Group analysts point out that in the short term support will be the range of $ 1215- $ 1210.

April futures price of gold on COMEX fell today to $ 1218.7 an ounce.