Gold dips ahead of US jobs data
Reuters|
Feb 02, 2018, 08.14 AM IST
Gold prices inched down early on Friday ahead of US jobs data due later in the day as traders looked for guidance on the course of monetary policy for the remainder of the year.
Fundamentals
Spot gold dipped 0.1 per cent to $1,346.90 per ounce at 0109 GMT, and has fallen 0.1 per cent so far this week.
US gold futures were up 0.2 per cent at $1,350.60 per ounce.
Traders are looking to the US government's jobs report on Friday. Nonfarm payrolls probably rose by 180,000 jobs in January after increasing 148,000 in December, according to a Reuters survey of economists. The unemployment rate is forecast to be unchanged at a 17-year low of 4.1 per cent.
Stronger-than-expected jobs data, lower unemployment and higher wages would signal strength in the economy, and could in turn strengthen the dollar and pressure gold, analysts say.
The US Federal Reserve held interest rates unchanged on Wednesday but raised its inflation outlook and flagged "further gradual" rate increases.
A survey on Thursday showed eurozone manufacturing continued to boom last month, supporting expectations that the European Central Bank is on track to normalise monetary policy.
Sibanye-Stillwater said on Thursday that over 1,000 miners were stuck underground at its Beatrix gold mine in South Africa after a storm knocked out power, but they were not in danger.
India said on Thursday it expected economic growth to surge above 8 per cent as it announced a 2018/19 budget that allocated billions of dollars for rural infrastructure and unveiled a health insurance programme for around 500 million poor.
Gold consumption in China grew by 9.41 per cent from the previous year to 1,089 tonnes in 2017, state television CCTV reported on Thursday, citing figures from the China Gold Association.
Acacia Mining has spent $2 million to lock in the option to sell 120,000 ounces of its gold output at $1,320 an ounce, hedging against lower prices to offset the impact of a government ban on concentrate exports.
US fund investors cashed out of cash funds and stocked up on stocks in the latest week, ignoring a setback in markets and taking on more risk, Lipper data showed on Thursday.
Fundamentals
Spot gold dipped 0.1 per cent to $1,346.90 per ounce at 0109 GMT, and has fallen 0.1 per cent so far this week.
US gold futures were up 0.2 per cent at $1,350.60 per ounce.
Traders are looking to the US government's jobs report on Friday. Nonfarm payrolls probably rose by 180,000 jobs in January after increasing 148,000 in December, according to a Reuters survey of economists. The unemployment rate is forecast to be unchanged at a 17-year low of 4.1 per cent.
Stronger-than-expected jobs data, lower unemployment and higher wages would signal strength in the economy, and could in turn strengthen the dollar and pressure gold, analysts say.
The US Federal Reserve held interest rates unchanged on Wednesday but raised its inflation outlook and flagged "further gradual" rate increases.
A survey on Thursday showed eurozone manufacturing continued to boom last month, supporting expectations that the European Central Bank is on track to normalise monetary policy.
Sibanye-Stillwater said on Thursday that over 1,000 miners were stuck underground at its Beatrix gold mine in South Africa after a storm knocked out power, but they were not in danger.
India said on Thursday it expected economic growth to surge above 8 per cent as it announced a 2018/19 budget that allocated billions of dollars for rural infrastructure and unveiled a health insurance programme for around 500 million poor.
Gold consumption in China grew by 9.41 per cent from the previous year to 1,089 tonnes in 2017, state television CCTV reported on Thursday, citing figures from the China Gold Association.
Acacia Mining has spent $2 million to lock in the option to sell 120,000 ounces of its gold output at $1,320 an ounce, hedging against lower prices to offset the impact of a government ban on concentrate exports.
US fund investors cashed out of cash funds and stocked up on stocks in the latest week, ignoring a setback in markets and taking on more risk, Lipper data showed on Thursday.
