• Gold price struggles to attract any meaningful buying amid sustained US Dollar strength.
• Reduced bets for a 50 bps Fed rate cut in November lifted the USD to a multi-week high.
• Geopolitical risks continue to act as a tailwind for the XAU/USD ahead of the US data.

Gold price (XAU/USD) remains on the defensive during the Asian session on Thursday amid a stronger US Dollar (USD), which continues to draw support from diminishing odds for a more aggressive policy easing by the Federal Reserve (Fed). The upbeat US ADP report released on Wednesday pointed to the underlying stability in the labor market and forced investors to further scale back their bets for another oversized Fed rate cut in November. This, in turn, pushes the USD Index (DXY), which tracks the Greenback against a basket of currencies, to a three-week top and turns out to be a key factor undermining demand for the non-yielding yellow metal.

The downside for the Gold price, however, seems cushioned in the wake of a further escalation of conflicts in the Middle East. Iran launched over 200 ballistic missiles at Israel on Tuesday, while the latter conducted a precise air strike and bombed central Beirut in Lebanon during the early hours of Thursday. This raises the risk of a full-blown war in the region, which, in turn, may continue to act as a tailwind for the safe-haven precious metal. Meanwhile, traders may also refrain from placing aggressive directional bets and prefer to wait for the release of the closely-watched US monthly employment details – the Nonfarm Payrolls (NFP) report on Friday.