COMEX gold recouped its early losses Friday morning from an unexpectedly strong US jobs report that briefly boosted the dollar.
"There was short-covering after selling on the unemployment number being bigger than expected," said Frank Aburto of F.C. Stone. "We dipped to $385.50 level, a fairly good support area, and then the market took off quite swiftly."
August gold was 10 cents firmer at $389 an ounce at 9:32 am EDT (1332 GMT), zigzagging between $390.50 and $385.50 which was its lowest since May 24. Gold at first extended a more than $6 slide from Wednesday and Thursday after May jobs data showed a gain of 248,000 non-farm payrolls, overshooting forecasts for a gain of 216,000. The jobless rate was 5.6 percent, unchanged from April.
Thin trading exaggerated gold's move, with some players sidelined amid modest open interest and long positions, according to traders. "I think that because it's a short week, people are trying to get out of here soon," a trader said.
Spot gold was quoted at $387.80/8.30, near Thursday's close of $387.85/8.55. London's morning fix was $388.10.
July silver rose 2.3 cents to $5.755 an ounce, midway in a trading band of $5.65 to $5.82. Spot silver fetched $5.74/76 against $5.71/74 last night. Friday's fix was $5.76.
July platinum gained $1.70 to $829 an ounce. Spot was quoted at $827.00/832.00.
September palladium fell $6 to $241.00 an ounce. Spot was last traded at $237.00/242.00.