Gold futures on Friday extended their losing streak to a seventh straight session, settling at their lowest level in more than three months after a better-than-anticipated jobs report made a December interest-rate rise look more likely.
December gold lost $16.50, or 1.5%, to settle at $1,087.70 U.S. an ounce. Prices logged their lowest settlement since Aug. 5. For the week, they lost about 4.7%, for a third straight week of declines.
December silver took a hit along with gold, falling 29.2 cents, or 2%, to $14.691 U.S. an ounce. For the week, prices saw a 5.6% decline.
Friday’s drop was gold’s seventh in a row, its longest such stretch of losses since July, when it dropped for 10 straight sessions. The yellow metal had traded modestly higher ahead of the jobs report Friday.
The closely watched jobs report showed that the U.S. economy created 271,000 jobs in October, surpassing economists’ forecasts, while the unemployment rate fell to 5% from 5.1%, and hourly wages rose at their fastest year-over-year pace since 2009.
Strong employment was one of the key metrics the U.S. Federal Reserve has been watching to determine the timing and pace of raising benchmark interest rates.
The ICE U.S. Dollar Index rallied after the report, putting pressure on gold prices.
A rate increase diminishes the appeal of precious metals, which don’t offer interest. Higher rates also makes the dollar more attractive because it increases the return on dollar-based deposits, and a stronger buck weighs on commodities that trade in dollars.
Gold prices failed to hold above $1,100 by the close, a level some experts referred to as "key support."
Other metals on Comex ended lower, with the exception of palladium. December palladium tacked on $6.65, or 1.1%, to $612.95 U.S. an ounce, rebounding after a 2.7% loss a day earlier. For the week, it was still down by 9.5%.
January platinum fell $13.10, or 1.4%, to $940 U.S. an ounce, for a weekly loss of around 5%, while December copper fell 1.3 cents, or 0.6%, to $2.242 U.S. a pound—3.3% lower for the week.
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