Gold up for 4th Week Despite Resurgent U.S. Jobs

By Barani Krishnan

Investing.com - Gold finished up on Thursday and not too far from $1,800 highs hit earlier in the week as the safe-haven crowd stayed loyal to the precious metal despite upbeat U.S. jobs numbers for June.

U.S. gold futures for August delivery on Comex settled up $10.10, or 0.4%, at $1,790.90. On Tuesday, August gold hit $1,803.95, the highest for a benchmark contract on Comex since the all-time peak of $1,911.60 set in September 2011.

Spot gold was up $5.33, or 0.3%, at $1,775.73 by 3:30 PM ET (19:30 GMT). The real-time indicator of bullion prices scaled $1,789.48 on Wednesday, a peak since the record high of $1,920.85 achieved by bullion in September 2011.

Gold rose for a fourth straight week despite a surge in risk appetite earlier in the day on Wall Street, sparked by the U.S. Labor Department’s non-farm payrolls report showing the economy added 4.8 million jobs in June versus a forecast growth of 3 million jobs.

U.S. stocks gave up much of their early gains by the close as rising Covid-19 infections across the U.S. Sunbelt suggested that new economic lockdowns might be in order, stunting the nascent recovery seen over the past two months.

“Gold prices initially declined but that was short-lived as a large part of the labor market is still unemployed and virus uncertainty in the U.S. Southeast to Southwest region will not do any favors for new job placements in July,” said Ed Moya, analyst at New York’s OANDA.

“Gold should see support stem from a weakening U.S. dollar, expectations for more global monetary and fiscal stimulus, and Chinese retaliatory expectations following the U.S. steps to roll back special trading privileges for Hong Kong. A complete collapse of relations between the world’s largest two economies is not expected, but it should derail some of the exceedingly strong optimism that is for U.S. equities.”

The United States has been reporting some 40,000 new cases of coronavirus daily in the so-called “second-wave” of the outbreak. Top U.S. pandemics expert Anthony Fauci said earlier in the week that this could grow to 100,000 daily without proper social-distancing and other safety measures.

Data shows that some 2.8 million Americans have already been infected by Covid-19, with a death toll exceeding 131,000. A new model by the University of Washington also predicts 200,000 coronavirus deaths in the United States by Oct. 1, casting further doubts on economic reopening from lockdowns.

Related Articles

Dominican Republic eyes opportunities as U.S. firms adjust supply chains

State Department warns top U.S. firms over supply chain risks linked to China's Xinjiang

Oil prices rise on U.S. economic data, virus concerns limit gains