Gold Steadies After Five-Day Rally as Traders Mull US Jobs Data
Gold eased after a five-day gain as investors digested the latest economic data that showed a continued cooling of the US jobs market. Copper held losses.
US job growth remained sluggish in November and the unemployment rate rose to a four-year high, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data out Tuesday. Still, traders refrained from boosting bets on further monetary easing by the Federal Reserve in the near term. The US central bank is seen as less likely to put much weight on the data due to disruptions caused by the US government shutdown. Traders assigned a 20% chance of a rate reduction in January.
Lower rates are typically a positive for gold, which doesn’t pay interest.
Investors will now focus on inflation data due Thursday and remarks from several Fed officials who are expected to speak throughout the week.
Gold has surged more than 60% this year and silver has more than doubled, with both metals on track for their best annual performances since 1979. The rallies have been underpinned by elevated central-bank buying and inflows into gold-backed exchange traded funds, in which holdings have risen every month this year except May, according to the World Gold Council.
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. upgraded its copper-price forecast for next year, saying potential US curbs on imports are seen as less likely in the first half, allowing a window for shipments ahead of any restriction.
“Expectations of a future tariff should keep the US copper price at a premium to the LME and drive US stockpiling,” analysts, including Eoin Dinsmore, wrote in a note, lifting their 2026 outlook to $11,400 a ton from $10,650. “A later tariff implementation should result in a larger-than-expected ex-US market deficit.”
Gold was up 0.1% to $4,309.77 as of 3:34 p.m. in New York. It hit an all-time high of $4,381.52 an ounce in October. Silver declined 0.5%. Platinum and palladium both advanced. The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.1%.
Benchmark copper futures on the London Metal Exchange slipped 0.5% to settle at $11,592 a metric ton. Other metals were mixed, with zinc slumping 1.7% and aluminum up 0.4%.
Source: Bloomberg.com
