Gold futures are trying to rally at the end of the trading week, but the yellow metal is still on track for its fourth consecutive weekly loss. Gold prices have been battered by an improving labor market, a rising US dollar, and waning geopolitical tensions.
December gold futures rose $2.50, or 0.20%, to $1275.70 per ounce at 16:33 GMT on Friday. Gold prices will post a 0.7% weekly loss, marking the fourth straight weekly loss for the precious metal. Gold has been trading at
Silver, the sister commodity to gold, is also rallying to finish the trading week. December silver futures surged $0.18, or 1.12%, to $16.82 an ounce. The white metal is poised for a weekly gain of 0.7%.
Gold is flat on Friday as investors begin to comb through the latest employment numbers. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the US economy lost 33,000 jobs in September, the first monthly drop since 2010, which stems from Hurricanes Harvey and Irma that hit Texas and Florida last month. The unemployment rate did dip from 4.4% to 4.2% and is now the lowest jobless rate in nearly 17 years.
Wages did experience an uptick of 0.5%, or 12 cents, to $26.55 per hour, something that was given a boost by the hurricane activity.
This could give the Federal Reserve more ammunition to pull the trigger on a rate hike at December’s Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) policy meeting. The US central bank has confirmed that it wants to raise interest rates one more time in 2017 in addition to unwinding its massive $4 trillion balance sheet. Gold is generally sensitive to a
Following the jobs numbers, the US dollar took a hit as the greenback declined 0.05%. A weaker US dollar is good for
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