Gold futures scored a more than 2% gain on Friday, snapping a five session losing streak after a weak September jobs report led investors to believe the Federal Reserve may further delay raising interest rates.
What at least one expert called the "ugly: report gave dollar-denominated precious metals, including gold, a boost as the greenback moved sharply lower.
December gold jumped $22.90, or 2.1%, to settle at $1,136.60 U.S. an ounce on Comex, soaring from $1,109.40 U.S. just moments before the jobs report. Prices had posted declines in each of the last five trading sessions.
Even with the sizable gains, however, gold snapped a two-week winning streak and logged a weekly loss of 0.8%.
The jobs report showed the U.S. economy created 142,000 new jobs in September, sharply lower than the 200,000 jobs economists had forecast. The U.S. Labor Department’s employment report also showed a cut in the August and July employment data, while the unemployment rate was unchanged at 5.1%.
The weaker-than-expected employment data has led gold investors to believe the Fed’s timing for lifting rates for the first time in nearly a decade has shifted to 2016. Separate data Friday showed that August factory orders fell 1.7%.
The jobs report also delivered a jolt to December silver which jumped 75.2 cents, or 5.2%, to end at $15.263 U.S. an ounce, after trading 54 cents lower before the employment report. Silver registered a weekly gain of about 1%,
In other metals, January platinum added $4.30, or 0.5%, to $909.50 U.S. an ounce, but the contract saw a weekly decline of about 4.4%, while December palladium added $18.20, or 2.7%, to $697.60 U.S. an ounce for a weekly gain of 4.5%.
December high-grade copper added 2.1 cents, or 0.9%, to $2.326 U.S. a pound, for a weekly gain of 1.8%.
Related Stories
