Gold Settles Modestly Higher For The Day, But Sheds More Than 3% In Week

Gold prices recovered after early weakness and settled higher on Friday as the dollar exhibited some weakness.

However, the most active gold futures contract still ended with a weekly loss, giving up more than 3%, as traders continued to bet on a series of aggressive rate hikes by the Federal Reserve.

The dollar index, which climbed a fresh near two-decade high at 107.79 during the Asian session, turned weak as the day progressed and dropped to 106.81 before recovering to 107.08, down marginally from the previous close.

Gold futures for August ended higher by $2.60 or about 0.2% at $1,742.30 an ounce.

Silver futures for September ended higher by $0.048 at $19.236 an ounce, while Copper futures settled at $3.5220 per pound, down $0.0500 from the previous close.

Data released by the Labor Department today showed non-farm payroll employment jumped by 372,000 jobs in June after surging by a revised 384,000 jobs in May.

Economists had expected employment to increase by 268,000 jobs compared to the addition of 390,000 jobs originally reported for the previous month.

Meanwhile, the report showed the unemployment remained at 3.6% for the fourth month in a row, matching economist estimates.

The data has eased worries about the economy while also adding to concerns about aggressive interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve.

Federal Reserve governors Christopher Waller and St. Louis Fed President James Bullard on Thursday backed another big interest-rate rise in July but said they think recession fears are overblown.

Meanwhile, despite the worsening inflation outlook in the euro area, ECB policymakers sound relatively cautious regarding the rate outlook.

European Central Bank (ECB) Governing Council member Ignazio Visco said today that there were no signs at present of a “dangerous spiral” between wages and price increases, and that policy normalization can be gradual after a 25-bps hike in July.

Source: Read Full Article