Tomorrow morning the market will get a glimpse of the September non-farm payrolls report. A report which was delayed due to the temporary US government shutdown. A disappointing NFP report could help to extend the Fed's current pace of asset purchases well into 2014 and likely trigger the next leg higher in precious metals and mining shares.

Gold has traversed the 50-day simple moving average on well over a half-dozen occasions during the past three months:

Click to enlarge

Gold_Daily_NFP

Regular readers will recall that many passive trend followers went short gold at the close on October 11th - a daily close above the 50-day moving average will likely trigger another round of stop loss buying as these traders are forced to cover their short positions. Bulls will want to see a decisive breakout above $1330, whereas, a decline back below $1300 would add considerably to gold bulls recent frustration:

GC_Hourly

 

Another potentially bullish flag formation in gold, a breakout above $1325-1330 could easily reach $1350.