The danger isn't over after the hard sell: a critical test before $4,000

Gold’s spot price fell as low as $3,893 an ounce before recovering above $3,900, with the metal still under pressure from strong U.S. employment data and the prospect of higher interest rates. The pullback highlights how resilient U.S. labor conditions are reshaping expectations for Federal Reserve policy, weighing on a non-yielding asset that had rallied sharply. Traders are now focused on a critical U.S. data release due Friday, which could trigger another sharp move in either direction. The $4,000 level remains the key psychological threshold for gold, and the coming session will test whether buyers can defend the market ahead of that mark.