Gold falls toward $2,300 as US yields rally

Gold turned south and dropped below $2,320, erasing all of its weekly gains in the process. The benchmark 10-year US Treasury bond yield is up more than 3% on the day above 4.4% after strong US Nonfarm Payrolls data, dragging XAU/USD lower.XAUUSD Technical OverviewFrom a technical perspective, Thursday’s sustained move beyond the $2,364 area, or last week's swing high, was seen as a fresh trigger for bullish traders. That said, mixed oscillators on the daily chart warrant some caution before positioning for any further gains. Hence, any subsequent move up is more likely to confront stiff resistance and remain capped near the $2,400 mark. Some follow-through buying, however, has the potential to lift the Gold price to the next relevant hurdle near the $2,425 zone en route to the $2,450 region, or the all-time peak touched in May.On the flip side, the $2,060 horizontal zone now seems to protect the immediate downside. Any further decline might be seen as a buying opportunity around the $2,340 region. This should help limit the downside for the Gold price near the $2,315-2,314 area or the multi-week low touched on Tuesday. A convincing break below, however, will confirm a breakdown through the 50-day Simple Moving Average (SMA) and pave the way for deeper losses. The XAU/USD might then weaken further below the $2,300 round-figure mark and test the $2,280 support zone.Fundamental OverviewGold price (XAU/USD) trades with mild negative bias after retracing from fresh two-week highs during the European trading hours on Friday. Investors now opt to move to the sidelines and wait for the release of the closely-watched monthly employment details from the United States (US). The popularly known Nonfarm Payrolls (NFP) report will play a key role in influencing the Federal Reserve's (Fed) future policy decisions, which, in turn, should provide a fresh impetus to the non-yielding yellow metal.Heading into the key data risk, rising bets for an imminent interest rate cut by the Fed in September, bolstered by the incoming softer US macro data, might continue to act as a tailwind for the Gold price. Furthermore, dovish Fed expectations keep the US Treasury bond yields and the US Dollar (USD) depressed near a multi-week low, which should further contribute to limiting the downside for the commodity. Apart from this, geopolitical tensions stemming from conflicts in the Middle East suggest that the path of least resistance for the XAU/USD is to the upside.