Gold prices held close to record levels on Monday after last week’s surge, as a weak U.S. jobs report strengthened expectations of an interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve as early as next week.
Spot Gold remained steady at $3,585.68 per ounce, just below Friday’s all-time peak of $3,600.03 per ounce. Gold Futures for December fell 0.7% to $3,626.52/oz by 01:39 ET (05:39GMT).
Bullion prices jumped more than 4% last week and have gained for nine sessions out of the last ten. Year-to-date, gold has surged nearly 37% driven by safe-haven demand due to President Donald Trump’s trade policies, and robust central bank demand -- especially from China.
Fed rate-cut bets grow after weak US jobs data
The latest U.S. jobs report showed a marked slowdown in employment growth and a rise in the unemployment rate to 4.3%, bolstering sentiment that the Fed will deliver a 25-basis-point rate cut at its September meeting, with a slim chance of a more substantial 50-basis-point move.
Lower interest rates reduce the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding assets like gold and also weaken the dollar, making the metal more appealing to investors.
The US Dollar Index Futures, which measures the greenback against a basket of major currencies, was little changed on Monday, remaining weak after sharp losses from Friday’s jobs data.
Market watchers now await the upcoming U.S. inflation report on Thursday, which could further influence Fed policy expectations and gold’s trajectory.
Silver dips from 14-yr high; China trade data in focus
Other precious metals were subdued on Monday, with Platinum Futures trading flat at $1,385.60/oz.
Silver Futures fell 0.6% to $41.30 an ounce, falling below last week’s highest level not seen since August 2011.
Benchmark Copper Futures on the London Metal Exchange were largely unchanged at $9,901.65 a ton, while U.S. Copper Futures edged 0.3% higher to $4.56 a pound.
Data from the world’s largest copper importer -- China -- showed that the country’s export growth slowed in August as the momentum sparked by a U.S.-China trade truce faded.
China’s imports also slowed from last month, highlighting persistent sluggish domestic demand.
Source :
https://www.investing.com/news/commodities-news/gold-prices-hold-near-record-highs-as-fed-ratecut-bets-gain-steam-4228065
