Gold prices opened the week down by 0.5%, heading for a third consecutive session of declines, as investors keenly await the release of a slew of U.S. economic data this week, most notably the non-farm payrolls for September on Thursday.

Gold is currently trading below the weekly pivot point at $4111, looking to touch the first support level at $3978. This level is crucial as it coincides with the bullish trend line, where stability below it could deepen losses towards the second support level of $3870.

On the upside, if gold manages to break through the weekly pivot point and then stabilizes above it, this could be a positive signal that could push prices towards resistance levels of $4219 then $4352.

From a fundamental standpoint, attention is also turning to the economic calendar, which has been largely devoid of fresh official U.S. data for more than 40 days due to the U.S. federal government shutdown.

That temporary closure came to an end last week, paving the way for new figures on employment and other important data from the world’s largest economy to be released.

According to estimates cited by ING, U.S. nonfarm payrolls are tipped to have increased by 50,000 in September, and the unemployment rate is seen remaining unchanged at 4.3%.

In addition, the Federal Reserve’s meeting minutes due this week will outline FOMC members’ point of view regarding last month’s interest-rate cut. Yet, concerns over the lack of fresh economic data have increased expectations that policymakers may leave the borrowing cost unchanged next month.

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