NEW YORK: Gold prices inched up on Friday after the November US job growth report suggested the labour market continues to ease gradually, leaving room for the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates again. Spot gold gained 0.3% to $2,638.89 per ounce by 10:15 a.m. ET (1515 GMT).
US gold futures rose 0.5% to $2,660.70. US job growth surged in November, but this probably does not signal a material shift in labor market conditions that continue to ease steadily and allows the Fed to cut interest rates again this month.
“The data was somewhere in between. We see the non-farm payroll higher than the forecast, which could be a little bit of a bearish sentiment on gold in the short term, but the private payroll is slightly below the forecast almost by 9000, this reaffirms the potential Fed cuts in the next couple of weeks,” said Alex Ebkarian, chief operating officer at Allegiance Gold.
The US dollar and US Treasuries yields fell after labour market report showed nonfarm payrolls increased by 227,000 jobs last month after rising an upwardly revised 36,000 in October. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast payrolls accelerating by 200,000.
The prospect of rate cuts, starting with the half basis point reduction in September, has underpinned gold’s record rally this year, as lower rates increase the appeal of holding non-yielding gold. Traders now see a 91% chance of a 25-basis-point cut at Fed’s December meeting, versus a 72% chance before the payrolls data.
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