Gold Breaks $1370 As Jobs Data Loom

FRANKFURT (Sept 6)   Gold futures broke below $1370 an ounce in the early European session today with the traders cautious ahead of the Jobs data that could lead to a pullback in monetary stimulus.

Gold for December delivery fell $2.8 to $1,370.2 an ounce on the COMEX division of New York Mercantile Exchange. The metal tumbled to as low as $1365.5 an ounce earlier in the session.

Weakness in the greenback was of little help to the bullion. The greenback on Friday eased away from gains it made Thursday on the back of a slate of upbeat economic figures.

The U.S. dollar slipped against the major rivals ahead of key monthly U.S. employment figures due later Friday. The ICE dollar index, a gauge of the greenback’s strength against six rivals, fell to 82.5070 from 82.618 late Thursday.

The ICE index remained on pace for a weekly advance of 0.5%, aided in part by gains Thursday after economic reports indicated strengthening in the world’s largest economy. The Federal Reserve has said it plans to begin slowing asset purchases if it continued to see improvement in the economy. Monetary stimulus by the Fed has been cited as a weight on the dollar’s value.

Increase of jobs could push the Fed heavily in favor of tapering stimulus before the end of September, but a disappointing level of growth could sway the central bank to wait at least another month. Policy makers will meet Sept. 12-13.

MCX October bullion futures broke below Rs 32000 per 10 grams level today. It is trading down nearly Rs 500 at Rs 31743 per 10 grams now, falling to as low as Rs 31722 earlier in the session.