On Friday gold futures edged higher, staying on pace for a weekly gain as investors digested the U.S. jobs report.
Gold for June delivery was up $7.60, or 0.6%, at $1,189.80 an ounce, eyeing a rise of 1.3% for the week. The contract briefly jumped to as high as around $1,193 after the payrolls data. Meanwhile, July silver jumped 17 cents, or 1%, to $16.47 an ounce.
On Thursday, gold futures finished lower for a second session in a row, hurt by a stronger-than-expected weekly report on U.S. jobless claims and the recent rise in yields.
In other metals trading, July platinum tacked on $10.40, or 0.9%, to $1,141.80 an ounce, while June palladium was up $12.30, or 1.7%, to $798.05 an ounce. July copper edged up by 0.1% to $2.92 a pound.
The yield for the 10-year Treasury note was lower Friday, helping gold after it rose earlier this week and dulled demand for the yellow metal.
Matt Weller, senior technical analyst at Forex.com, said the jobs report was “generally solid” but noted that the latest readings mean “a June rate hike by the Fed is almost certainly off the table.”
In April the U.S. economy created 223,000 new jobs in April, rebounding from March’s weak performance and just below the 228,000 jobs expected by economists polled by MarketWatch. The unemployment rate fell to 5.4% as economists expected, even as more people entered the labor force. That is the lowest jobless rate since May 2008. But the government also cut its estimate of jobs created in March to 85,000 from 126,000.
The dollar was slightly lower against most major rivals Friday, aiding gold futures, while U.S. stocks opened sharply higher.
