Gold futures jumped Friday, staying on pace for a weekly gain as investors digested a decent U.S. jobs report.
The yield for the 10-year Treasury note was lower Friday, helping gold after it rose earlier this week and dulled demand for the yellow metal.
Gold for June delivery was up $7.60, or 0.6%, at $1,189.80 U.S. an ounce, foreseeing a rise of 1.3% for the week. The contract briefly jumped to as high as around $1,193 U.S. after the payrolls data. Meanwhile, July silver jumped 17 cents, or 1%, to $16.47 U.S. an ounce.
The U.S. economy created 223,000 new jobs in April, rebounding from March’s weak performance and just below the 228,000 jobs expected by economists. The unemployment rate fell to 5.4% as economists expected, even as more people entered the labour force. That is the lowest jobless rate since May 2008. But the government also cut its estimate of jobs created in March to 85,000 from 126,000.
The dollar was slightly lower against most major rivals Friday, aiding gold futures, while U.S. stocks opened sharply higher.
On Thursday, gold futures finished lower for a second session in a row, hurt by a stronger-than-expected weekly report on U.S. jobless claims and the recent rise in yields.
In other metals trading, July platinum tacked on $10.40, or 0.9%, to $1,141.80 U.S. an ounce, while June palladium was up $12.30, or 1.7%, to $798.05 U.S. an ounce. July copper edged up by 0.1% to $2.92 U.S. a pound.
