Gold prices continued their sharp decline, falling 5% during Monday trading, heading toward losses for the third consecutive session.

Gold is currently trading near the broken bullish trend line, seeking to break above it to reclaim the weekly pivot point at $5059. It should be noted that breaking above the pivot point could push the yellow metal towards resistance levels of $5438 then $5981.

If gold stabilizes below the breached bullish trend line, it may test the first support level at $4515. A sustained move beneath the aforesaid level may continue its downward correction, which could extend towards the second support level of $4136.

On the economic front, U.S. economic data will once again come to the fore this week, with the monthly jobs report due out on Friday.

Nonfarm payrolls for January are expected to have risen by 67,000, up from 50,000 in the prior month, economists have predicted. Meanwhile, the unemployment rate is tipped to remain unchanged at 4.4%.

Markets will pay close attention to the U.S. service and manufacturing PMI reports for January. If these indicators rise above expectations, it could negatively affect gold prices, while the opposite is true.

Last week, President Trump nominated Kevin Warsh to succeed Jerome Powell as Fed Chair, prompting investors to link falling gold prices to expectations of a more hawkish monetary policy.

Kevin Warsh, tapped to become the next Federal Reserve chair, may want to significantly contract the central bank’s multi-trillion-dollar balance sheet, but experts agree that financial realities strongly indicate accomplishing this goal will be difficult and slow

On the geopolitical front, President Trump said Iran is ‘in serious talks’ with Washington, signaling a de-escalation in geopolitical tensions. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ismail Baghaei added that Tehran is reviewing various diplomatic measures and hopes to see results in the coming days.