Gold Stays Lower Ahead Of Payrolls
Singapore (Dec 6) Gold futures are trading lower in the Asia electronic trades Friday ahead of the all important nonfarm payrolls data, which is mostly expected to show a strong picture as indicated by the ADP jobs data.
The caution was also observed in the Asia markets. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.3%, Singapore’s Strait Times Index lost 0.4%, and South Korea’s Kospi was 0.1% higher.
Stocks in both Hong Kong and Shanghai fell ahead of China released its monthly batch of data. Trade data are due to be released over the weekend, and inflation numbers are slated to follow on Monday.
COMEX February gold futures are trading at $ 1226 down $ 5.9 per ounce. Yesterday, it lost $15.30, or 1.2%, to settle at $1,231.90 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
On the economic front Thursday, the US government released the first of two updates to third-quarter GDP, which came in much stronger than expected, while weekly jobless claims fell by 23,000 to 298,000. Meanwhile, the European Central Bank and the Bank of England left monetary policy unchanged, as expected.
A reading on U.S. November nonfarm payrolls is due later today, and the much-watched outcome will help determine whether the Federal Reserve will start to withdraw its stimulus measures, which have supported global markets over the last year. The previous labor report exceeded forecasts, and another strong number will increase expectations of an imminent exit by the Fed.
The sharp drop in the US dollar and rise in the Yen also failed to boost the yellow metal as the markets focus on the nonfarm payrolls figures which if strong may result in early rollback of the bond buying program . The dollar slipped overnight, losing a total of 0.6% Thursday to reverse a trend of weakness in the Japanese currency over the last few weeks that provided a boost to the local stock market.
