It has been a rough week for gold as the yellow metal is poised to finish off the trading week down close to 4%. The decline in gold comes as the US dollar surged, the equities market advanced, and the near certainty that the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates next month.
December gold futures tumbled $7.20, or 0.61%, to $1,182.10 per ounce at 17:33 GMT on Friday. The last time gold prices traded this low was at the beginning of June. Gold will settle the week losing 3.6% of its value. The yellow metal has lost around $120 since November 8.
Silver is performing a little bit better to end the trading week. December silver futures climbed $0.10, or 0.63%, to $16.49 an ounce. Despite the gains, silver will have shed 1.7% of its value this week.
The precious metals are being battered based on a strengthening greenback. The US dollar is surging because of this week’s positive economic data, soaring financial markets, a likely December rate hike, and plans that
Moving forward, traders will pay attention to the monthly jobs report that is due on December 2. It will be a key factor for market sentiment heading into the December 13 and 14 Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting, though a few US central bank officials have noted that other economic data likely will not influence their decision.
In addition, analysts will be combing through the holiday spending numbers. The early numbers suggest that
Both rising rates and a strong dollar are bad for gold. In a
Even when you factor in the losses, gold is still up just under 20%
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