Gold futures are poised to settle at their lowest levels in two months to finish the trading week. The yellow metal cratered below the $1,700 mark on Friday after the May jobs report beat all expectations, sparking a huge rally in the stock market and lifting the US dollar. Is the ride over for gold, or does the precious metal still have room for growth this year?
August gold futures plummeted $43.60, or 2.52%, to $1,683.80 per ounce at 16:59 GMT on Friday on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. Gold prices have not traded at this level in about two months. The yellow metal is set for a 3.4% weekly loss, but it is still up 11%
Silver, the sister commodity to gold, is also slumping to end the trading week. July silver futures tumbled $0.556, or 3.08%, to $17.505 an ounce. The white metal will also suffer a 5.3% weekly loss, bringing its YTD decline to roughly 2.2%.
Metal commodities are taking a hit on a
Overall, the US job market had its best
The labor data sent equities soaring on Friday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average reclaimed 27,000, the S&P 500 hit 3,200, and the Nasdaq Composite Index reached another record high. The bond market witnessed a massive selloff as the benchmark 10-year Treasury note rose 0.107 basis points to 0.927%.
Despite sliding in the wake of the employment numbers, the greenback pared its losses. The US Dollar Index, which measures the buck against a basket of currencies, advanced 0.3% to just below 97. A stronger buck is bad for
Is gold headed back down to earth? Some market watchers think gold prices will test $1,700 again because of geopolitical tensions,
In other metal markets, July copper futures soared $0.065, or 2.61%, to $2.5545 per pound. July platinum futures dropped $36.40, or 4.21%, to $828.60 per ounce. July palladium futures tacked on $27.10, or 1.41%, to $1,949.90 an ounce.
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