Gold Rally Is Put on Hold After ‘Monster’ U.S. Payrolls Gain

(Bloomberg) -- Gold’s recent surge may have hit a speed bump.

Bullion headed for the first loss of 2019 on Friday and the biggest since November as stronger-than-expected U.S. payrolls data crimped demand for the metal as a haven. The decline threatened to wipe out gold’s weekly gain, which would have been the third straight.

The slide comes after gold rose above $1,300 an ounce earlier Friday for the first time since June as investors piled into the metal amid a slump in equities, a U.S. government shutdown and mounting speculation that the Federal Reserve would pause in its push to raise interest rates. Accelerating wages in the jobs report mean the Fed will stay on track in raising rates, said Naeem Aslam, chief market analyst at Think Markets U.K. Ltd.

The payrolls figures was a “monster number,” said Tai Wong, head of base and precious metals derivatives trading at BMO Capital Markets.

Gold futures for February delivery fell 1 percent to $1,282.40 an ounce at 10:15 a.m. on the Comex in New York. A close at that price would mark the biggest decline since Nov. 9. The metal was down less than 0.1 percent for the week.

Still, with signs of a global slowdown stacking up amid the U.S.-China trade war and softening factory activity, analysts said it’s to soon to write off gold’s rally.

‘‘Overall, the data is still somewhat mixed,’’ Aslam said in an email.

©2019 Bloomberg L.P.