Gold jumped 2 percent on Wednesday, rising well above $1,200 an ounce to a five-week high as the dollar hit a three-month low after disappointing US employment data. US retail sales were also unchanged in April as households cut back on purchases of automobiles and other big-ticket items, suggesting the economy was struggling to make a strong rebound after barely growing in the first quarter.
Spot gold hit a five-week high of $1,218.80 an ounce after the US data pushed prices through the 100-day and 200-day moving averages, attracting additional technical buying. The spot market was trading up 1.8 percent at $1,214.60 an ounce by 2:38 pm EDT (1838 GMT). The US June futures contract settled up 2.2 percent at $1,218.20 an ounce.
"A close above technical resistance at $1,215 could help gold exiting the narrow trading range between $1,175 and $1,225 the metal has been confined over the past ten weeks," ActivTrades chief analyst Carlo Alberto de Casa said. Silver climbed 3.4 percent to a five-week high of $17.11 an ounce, while platinum rose 1 percent to $1,143.35 an ounce. Spot palladium was up 0.5 percent at $786 an ounce.