Gold futures fell on pre-holiday profit taking on Friday as investors bought the dollar in relief about news that the US economy created almost as many jobs as predicted in August.
Funds saw several reasons to cash in long positions before trading wrapped up for a three-day weekend. US financial markets will close on Monday to observe Labour Day. The dollar jumped after the Labour Department reported the US unemployment rate fell to 5.4 percent in August, the lowest since October 2001, and nonfarm payrolls rose by 144,000.
December gold ended down $5.50 at $402.50 an ounce. It bottomed at $401 from a $408.70 peak before the job numbers. "In a parallel knee-jerk reaction to the rather innocuous employment report, gold tanked with the euro, and bonds, I might add," a metals broker said.
"That set off stops, then provoked some trade selling and fund selling," he said, referring to pre-placed orders to sell out of gold purchases. "Clearly, the market has exhausted itself with the rally two weeks ago," he said.
Economists had predicted a 150,000 increase in payrolls, but expected no improvement to July's 5.5 percent jobless rate. So, traders concluded that nothing now stands in the way of the Federal Reserve raising interest rates another quarter percentage point at its next meeting September 21, despite disappointing summer economic data, including last month's meagre 73,000 jobs gain, which was revised up from 32,000 originally.
"The payroll number came out right in line, the euro went down, that's why we went down," said a gold floor broker. Since June, the Fed has ratcheted up the benchmark fed funds rate twice for a total of half a percentage point, to 1.50 percent, saying it would remove four years of policy accommodation at a "measured" pace.
Rising US deposit rates reduce gold's relative attraction versus the dollar. "Rates have to rise 250 points just to get to an equilibrium point. That means we have to get to 3.00-3.50 percent just to get to a neutral environment," said Leonard Kaplan, president of Prospector Asset Management.
"That means the dollar goes higher, gold goes lower. But the fundamentals for gold are so good I do not see it much under $380, no matter what," he said. "I think we thrash between $380 and $420."
The Republican Nation Convention concluded on Thursday night without major disruptions or extremist attacks, lessening the desire to hold gold as a safe-haven investment.
December gold reached a four-month high two weeks ago at $416.80, as the dollar weakened, combat in Iraq intensified and oil prices surged to a record near $50 a barrel. Traders said the close below the 200-day moving average at $405.30 was a bearish signal for December gold.
Spot gold was quoted in New York at $400.15/90, down from Thursday's close at $405.80/6. London's afternoon fix was $401.15. December silver fell 22 cents in the last thin session of the summer, ending at $6.59.
The range was $6.83 to $6.50. Spot silver fell to $6.54/57 from $6.74/77 and the fix at $6.7125. October platinum went down $10.60 to $859.40 an ounce. Spot fetched $857.50/862.50. December palladium slipped $1.70 to $212.30 an ounce. Spot palladium went out at $209.00/215.00.
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