Investing.com - Gold prices slipped lower on Monday as markets continued to digest last Friday’s U.S. nonfarm payrolls report, which showed that the economy added slightly fewer jobs than expected in March.
On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold for June delivery was last down 0.34% to $1,299.10, pulling back from Friday’s one-week high of $1,306.55.
Gold futures gained more than 1% on Friday after data showed that the U.S. economy added 192,000 jobs in March, below expectations for jobs growth of 200,000.
The U.S. unemployment rate remained unchanged at 6.7%, compared to expectations for a downtick to 6.6%.
However, gold failed to build on gains after data showed that jobs growth in the previous two months was revised higher.
The data disappointed some market expectations for a more robust reading but indicated that the Federal Reserve is likely to stick to the current pace of reductions to its asset purchase program.
Comex gold prices have been under heavy selling pressure in recent weeks as upbeat U.S. economic data fuelled expectations that the Federal Reserve will begin to raise rates sooner than previously thought.
In the physical market, demand remained subdued as markets in top buyer China remained closed for a holiday.
A report from the Commodities Futures Trading Commission on Friday showed that hedge funds and money managers decreased their bullish bets in gold futures for a second straight week as geopolitical tensions eased and economic reports indicated that the U.S. recovery was on track.
Net longs totaled 106,354 contracts, down 11.4% from net longs of 120,042 in the preceding week.
Elsewhere, in metals trading, silver for May delivery dropped 0.64% to $19.81 a troy ounce, while copper for May delivery slipped 0.35% to trade at $3.012 a pound.