Gold prices fell sharply on Friday, putting a third week of gains in peril, after key jobs growth data came in slightly better than expected, driving Wall Street stocks higher and pulling investors away from the metal.
Down $7.40 ahead of the data, gold for August delivery bounced around before making a firm push lower, tumbling $32.70, or 2.3%, to $1,383.80 U.S. an ounce, surrendering ground beyond its 1.2% climb Thursday on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
The metal is on track to lose 0.7% on the week after two straight weeks of gains for the most-active contract.
U.S. Labor Department data showed the U.S. created 175,000 jobs in May, an increase that exceeded the forecasts of economists. They were expecting gains of 164,000.
The unemployment rate rose to 7.6% from 7.5%; economists had expected that level to remain unchanged.
Despite the rise in gold since mid-May, the metal is well off its levels from the start of 2013. On Friday, Australia’s Newcrest Mining Ltd. cited the approximately 16% drop so far this year as the reason it may write down as much as six billion Australian dollars ($5.75 billion U.S).
Losses extended to other metal-futures trade Friday. July silver fell 82 cents, or 3.5%, to $21.89 U.S. an ounce, and September palladium slid $14.30, or nearly 2%, to $748 U.S. an ounce. July platinum tumbled $39.10, or 2.5% to $1,490.60 U.S. an ounce.
Copper for July delivery fell five cents, or 1.5%, to $3.27 U.S. a pound
