Gold futures ease following stronger-than-expected U.S. jobs data

New York (Dec 7)  Gold futures closed with a modest loss today, tallying a decline of nearly 2 percent for the week, as traders reacted to a stronger-than-expected U.S. jobs report for November.

The upbeat jobs report fueled expectations that the Federal Reserve may soon taper its bond-buying program — and that put pressure on gold, though prices finished well off the lows of the day.

Gold for February delivery inched down 0.2 percent to finish at $1,229 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. It had slipped to as low as about $1,214 right after the jobs data, rebounded to trade at highs around $1,242, then pulled back again. Prices lost 1.7 percent for the week.

The Labor Department said Friday the U.S. economy added 203,000 jobs in November and the unemployment rate fell to 7 percent from 7.3 percent.

Economists had expected a gain of 180,000 nonfarm jobs and an unemployment rate of 7.2 percent, according to MarketWatch.

In other metals, March silver surrendered 0.2 percent to $19.52 an ounce on Comex after a 1.3 percent loss in the previous session. Prices saw a 2.6 percent weekly loss.

March high-grade copper added 0.6 percent to $3.25 a pound. It was up roughly 1.4 percent for the week.

January platinum skidded 0.5 percent to $1,356.30 an ounce with prices ending 0.9 percent lower for the week.

Palladium for March delivery gave back 70 cents to $736.15 an ounce, for a gain of 2.3 percent on the week.