08/08/2016 08:49 AST
The spot gold price was supported by Chinese bargain hunting during Asian trading hours on Monday after the yellow metal fell last Friday on a better-than-expected US jobs report which lifted the US dollar and odds of a US rate hike this year.
Spot gold was last at $1,336.80-1,337.20 per ounce, up $1.40 from Friday’s close. Trading ranged at $1,331.50-1,337.65 so far.
“An initial dip through the Friday low during early Asian trade today was well supported and we have continued to see bargain hunters step in during Chinese trade,” said MKS Group on Monday morning.
The spot gold price fell to a week’s low of $1,334.75 and the US dollar surged to a week’s high of 96.52 last Friday after the release of the US payrolls report.
Correction could continue for spot gold in the short term after the strong US jobs data on Friday, said China’s Zhengjin Precious Metals on Monday morning. The broker sees short-term support for the yellow metal at $1,300 and resistance at $1,350.
The US non-farm employment report showed 255,000 Americans joining the labour force in July – bettering the 180,000 forecast. The previous month figure was also revised up to 292,000 from 287,000, while persistently weak wage growth saw average hourly earnings gain 0.3 percent from the previous month.
While the headline unemployment figure was unchanged at 4.9 percent, the report on Friday has lifted expectations of the US hiking rates this year – the market now sees a 43.4-percent chance of a December Fed rate hike compared to 31.1 percent before the report, according to the CME Group FedWatch.
Majority of market participants, however, still believe a rate hike could only happen in May next year.
In currencies, the US dollar Index was last at 95.21, down 0.07 percent from Friday’s close.
It is a light day for data with mainly China’s July trade figures and the US labour market conditions index of note later on Monday.
In commodities, the Brent crude oil spot price fell 0.3 percent to $44.27 per barrel, and the Texas light sweet crude slipped 0.14 percent to $41.86 recently on Monday.
In equities, the Shanghai Composite rose 0.25 percent to 2,984.04.
In other precious metals, silver decreased $0.05 to $19.715/19.735. Platinum was last at $1,143/1,153, up $8, and palladium increased $2 to $692/697 recently on Monday.
On the Shanghai Futures Exchange, gold for December delivery was last unchanged at 292.20 yuan per gram, and the December silver was flat at 4,481 yuan per kilogram.
Bullion Desk
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