Gold holds steady as investors await US payrolls report

Bengaluru — Gold edged up from seven-month lows on Friday, as the US dollar and bond yields took a breather after scaling new highs this week ahead of US non-farm payrolls data.

Spot gold rose 0.2% to $1,823.59/oz by 3.35am GMT, but was on track to extend losses to a second consecutive week, shedding 1.3% so far. US gold futures firmed 0.3% to $1,837.60.

Benchmark US 10-year bond yields pulled back from a 16-year peak and the US dollar was off November 2022 highs, but remained on track for 12 straight weeks of gains.

“I think the market doesn’t quite have conviction to keep going at this point until the US jobs data comes out,” said Ilya Spivak, head of global macro, Tastylive.

Markets await the release of US non-farm payrolls data at 12.30pm GMT, after a string of jobs indicators released this week. The data could help determine whether interest rates will be raised again.

“We’re in a state now where if the data is good, that’s likely to mean that the markets will interpret the Fed as likely to delay rate cuts — maybe in scope, maybe in timing,” Spivak added.

Federal Reserve officials on Thursday indicated little concern that the recent rise in US Treasury yields could imperil a “soft landing” for the economy, and said it could actually help the central bank fight inflation.

SPDR Gold Trust, the world’s largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, said its holdings hit the lowest levels since August 2019 on Thursday.

Spot silver jumped 0.5% to $21.01/oz, platinum gained 0.3% to $857.23 and palladium rose 0.7% to $1,149.51, having hit five year lows in the last session. All were on track for weekly losses.

Prices for platinum-group metals could remain depressed, the CEO of the world’s biggest platinum miner by value, Anglo American Platinum, said.

Reuters