Gold prices continued to bounce off seven-week lows on Friday, as investors awaited an important update on U.S. employment.
The most active February gold contract
GCG22,
GC00,
rose 0.6%, or $10.50, to $1,773.20 an ounce. On Thursday, gold dropped 1.2% to finish at $1,762.70 an ounce on Comex. It marked the lowest settlement for a most-active contract since Oct. 12, according to Dow Jones Market Data.
March silver
SIH22,
rose 0.1% to $22.31 an ounce. On Thursday, the precious metal fell 2 cents to $22.316 an ounce, a day after posting a decline of 2.1%.
Investors are waiting on November U.S. payrolls data, expected to show 573,000 new jobs created and a slight rise from 531,000 gains the prior month, according to economists polled by The Wall Street Journal. Investors will also get the unemployment rate, average hourly earnings, then later the Institute for Supply Management’s services index for November, followed by factory orders and a revision of core capital goods, both for October.
That’s as investors continue to watch for updates on the omicron variant that was brought to the world’s attention late last week by South African scientists, and which has triggered days of market turmoil.
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Investors are hoping to learn more news about the variant in coming days and weeks, but gold has disappointed investors in recent days who were hoping the precious metal would get haven bids and retake the psychologically important level of $1,800 an ounce.
“A flattening of the yield curve is weighing on the yellow metal and a strong jobs report today could further exacerbate its woes,” said Craig Erlam, senior market
analyst at OANDA, in a note to clients.
“Of course, there are multiple factors to watch at the minute as far as gold is concerned but the fact that the central bank’s hands are tied means bad news on the Omicron variant may not be as bullish for gold as it has in the past. Unless, of course, the central bank gives priority to the economy over inflation which would be a massive risk,” he said.
Whlie Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell revealed this week that the central believes it’s time to start tapering faster, which could mean faster interest rate rises, Erlam said omicron’s developments could complicate matters. “A strong report today leaves the Fed well and truly backed into a corner,” he said.
Among other metals traded on Comex, March copper
HGF22,
was flat at $4.300 a pound.
January platinum
PLF22,
rose 0.9% to $941.50 an ounce, while March palladium
PAH22,
added 4% to $1,844 an ounce.
Read: Platinum, palladium buck an overall upward trend for commodities, poised for hefty 2021 losses
This post was originally published on Market Watch
