August Gold futures broke below recent lows to post the sharpest percentage decline since late March, under pressure from a hawkish Federal Reserve repricing. The downturn intensified following the release of the May non-farm payrolls report, which revealed the addition of 172,000 jobs—more than double the consensus expectation of 85,000. While the unemployment rate held steady at 4.3%, the robust labor data led market participants to re-evaluate monetary policy flexibility, boosting Treasury yields. The two-year yield jumped over 10 bps to 4.153%, and the 10-Year yield rose to 4.536%. Because gold is a non-yielding asset, higher yields increase the opportunity cost of holding the metal, creating a challenging macroeconomic environment for Gold futures as the trading week concludes.