Gold on Thursday rebounded slightly from an earlier 3-1/2 month low after data showed the US labour market was weaker in June than expected, indicating that the Federal Reserve may hold off from raising interest rates in September. US job growth slowed in June and Americans left the labour force in droves. Spot gold slid 1 percent to $1,156.85 an ounce, the lowest since March 18, before the US data and was trading down 0.4 percent at $1,163.61 by 2:41 pm ET (1841 GMT).
US gold futures for August delivery settled down $5.80 at $1,163.50 per ounce. "We don't need many more numbers for the Fed to see that a September rate hike will be too early," Saxo Bank senior manager Ole Hansen said. "It was probably what the gold market needed to avoid triggering more selling appetite." "The underlying composition of the report is much worse than it appears in the headlines," said Trey Reik, precious metal strategist for Sprott Asset Management USA, in Connecticut. Silver rose 0.3 percent to $15.58 an ounce after dropping 1.3 percent in the previous session. Palladium was down 0.8 percent at $690.75, and platinum fell 0.2 percent to $1,077.49.