Gold eases ahead of US jobs data; eyes sixth weekly gain

10/07/2016 14:02 AST

Gold edged down on Friday as investors turned cautious ahead of US jobs data later in the day, but the precious metal remained on course for a sixth consecutive weekly gain. Spot gold was trading down 0.3 percent at $1,356.41 an ounce by 0656 GMT. Bullion has risen about 1 percent so far this week. US gold fell 0.3 percent to $1,358.10 an ounce. "We have seen some slight correction in gold prices from yesterday...Prices have come up quite a lot. It was long time since many of them decided to take profits," said Brian Lan, managing director at Singapore-based gold dealer GoldSilver Central. Data published on Thursday ahead of the closely-watched US non-farm payrolls report suggested a rebound in jobs growth after May's paltry gains. US private payrolls increased more than expected in June as small businesses ramped up hiring, and fewer Americans applied for unemployment benefits last week. "A very strong jobs figure will trigger some short term pain for gold, however, the underlying uptrend should prevail in the medium term," MKS Group trader James Gardiner wrote in a note. Any weakness in hiring however could be an indication that the US Federal Reserve may not raise interest rates any time soon amid the economic uncertainty following the Brexit vote, analysts said. Gold is sensitive to higher rates, which lift the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding assets such as bullion, while boosting the dollar, in which it is priced. Investors poured the most money into US-based funds invested in precious metals since February, adding $2 billion to in the latest week, data from Thomson Reuters' Lipper service showed on Thursday. Technical analysts at ScotiaMocatta pegged support for gold at $1,346 and resistance at $1,375.30, with the RSI (relative strength index) currently showing the yellow metal in slightly overbought territory and added that profit-taking may emerge in the short-term. SPDR Gold Trust, the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, said its holdings fell 0.42 percent to 978.29 tonnes on Thursday from 982.44 tonnes on Wednesday. The dollar edged down against most major currencies in Asian trade on Friday but remained on track for a weekly gain. Silver, which touched a two-year high on Monday, was trading down 0.1 percent at $19.64. Among other precious metals, platinum was down 0.7 percent at $1,078.40 an ounce and palladium fell 0.8 percent to $602.95 an ounce.

Daily Times