Gold prices rose in Asian trade on Friday, remaining close to recent peaks amid growing bets on U.S. interest rate cuts, with upcoming nonfarm payrolls data expected to further this trend.
Bullion, along with broader metal prices, was set for weekly gains as the dollar lost ground amid increasing conviction in a September rate cut.
Spot gold rose 0.4% to $3,559.82 an ounce, while gold futures for December rose 0.3% to $3,617.87/oz by 01:04 ET (05:04 GMT). Spot prices hit a record high of $3,578.80/oz earlier this week.
Gold heads for weekly gains amid rate cut sheer
Gold was set to add 3.2% this week, its third straight week of strong gains as increasing confidence in a September rate cut boosted metal prices.
The yellow metal also benefited from increased safe haven demand earlier this week, amid concerns over stretched government debt in the developed world, as well as uncertainty over the U.S. economy, chiefly on trade tariffs and the Federal Reserve’s independence.
A host of Fed officials signaled this week that the central bank was more open to cutting interest rates amid persistent signs of a cooling U.S. labor market. Jobless claims and job openings data released earlier in the week both read weaker than expected.
This saw traders ramp up their expectations for a September rate cut. Fed fund futures showed markets pricing in an over 96% chance the Fed will cut rates by 25 basis points at its September 16-17 meeting, according to CME Fedwatch.
Metal prices upbeat ahead of payrolls test
Broader metal prices all advanced on Friday and were also headed for weekly gains. Spot platinum rose 0.6% to $1,383.20/oz and was trading up 1.1% this week.
Spot silver rose 0.5% to $40.8615/oz, and was up nearly 3% this week.
Among industrial metals, benchmark copper futures on the London Metal Exchange rose 0.7% to $9,957.05 a ton, while COMEX copper futures rose 0.6% to $4.5932 a pound.
Nonfarm payrolls data, due at 08:30 ET (12:30 GMT) is expected to show employment growth remained weak in August amid persistent cooling in the labor market. The print is expected to further prime the Fed for a September cut.
Lower rates tend to benefit non-yielding assets such as metals by lowering the opportunity cost of investing in the sector over government debt.
Source :
https://www.investing.com/news/commodities-news/gold-prices-rise-with-record-in-sight-ahead-of-nonfarm-payrolls-data-4225942
