Gold prices retreated sharply this week, falling to $4,623 per ounce, as a surprisingly robust U.S. jobs report for March 2026 dramatically shifted market expectations for monetary policy. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported the addition of 178,000 nonfarm payroll jobs, a figure that far exceeded the consensus estimate of 59,000. This strong economic data has significantly cooled investor bets on imminent interest rate cuts from the Federal Reserve, strengthening the U.S. dollar and Treasury yields—a classic bearish cocktail for non-yielding assets like gold. The Data-Driven Selloff The immediate aftermath of the jobs data release saw a swift repricing across financial markets. The U.S. dollar index climbed, while Treasury yields moved higher, increasing the opportunity cost of holding gold,