ECB bond purchases suggest rising gold price in Euros

A robust labour market report could point to two interest rate hikes before the year is out, whereas a weak report could well mean no rate hikes at all this year. The gold price should also react to the likely shift in the EUR-USD exchange rate.

"The ECB will further loosen its monetary policy, and may already do so at its meeting in December. In this context it is more likely that the monthly bond purchases will be increased (from their current level of €60 billion) than that they will merely be extended beyond September 2016", says Commerzbank. 

This would suggest a significantly higher gold price in euros, even though the price response to what virtually amounts to an announcement of "QE2" was subdued. Market participants are likely to be focusing their attention today on the publication of US labour market data this afternoon, as they should influence the US Federal Reserve's decision at its meeting in the week after next.