Daily Digest Market Movers: Gold price traders remain on the sidelines ahead of the crucial US monthly jobs report

The US Department of Labor (DOL) reported on Thursday that the number of Americans filing applications for unemployment benefits increased marginally to 225K during the week ended September 28 as compared to the 218K previous. 

This comes on top of a larger-than-anticipated increase in the US private-sector employment in September and an unexpected rise in the number of available jobs in August, providing evidence of a stable and still resilient labor market.

Separately, the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) said that its Non-Manufacturing PMI rose to 54.9 in September, or the highest level since February 2023, suggesting that the economy remained on a solid footing in the third quarter.

This further tempers market expectations for another oversized interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve and lifts the US Dollar to a one-month top, which, in turn, is seen as a key factor acting as a headwind for the non-yielding Gold price. 

Hezbollah launched approximately 230 projectiles from Lebanon into Israeli territory on Thursday and Israel launched strikes early on Friday targeting Hezbollah's intelligence headquarters in the southern suburbs of Lebanese capital Beirut.

Meanwhile, Israel will reportedly carry out a very significant retaliation within days to Iran's onslaught of nearly 200 ballistic missiles on Tuesday night, raising the risk of a full-blown war and lending support to the XAU/USD.