Investing.com - Gold futures rose modestly in the early part of Monday’s Asian session after touching a four-month low last Friday as traders are still weighing the impact of the most recent U.S. jobs report and the possibility that the Federal Reserve’s quantitative easing program will come to an end this year.
On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold futures for February delivery gained 0.66% to USD1,659.45 per troy ounce in Asian trading Monday. Bullion traded as high as USD1,660.05 and as low as USD1,655.95 per ounce.
After falling 0.3% last week, gold prices were likely to find support at USD1,626.05 a troy ounce, Friday’s low and a 19-week low and resistance at USD1,690.55, Thursday’s high.
Last week, gold futures were hammered following the release of the Federal Open Market Committee’s meeting minutes, which showed division among Federal Reserve governors regarding when the third round of quantitative easing should come to an end. The Fed still plans to buy $85 billion in bonds per month for the foreseeable future, but traders have interpreted the latest batch of FOMC minutes to mean there will be no QE4, at least not anytime soon.
Monetary easing usually pressures the dollar, increasing the value of dollar-denominated commodities, such as gold, in the process.
Gold was able to rebound somewhat late last week following Friday’s December non-farm payroll report that showed the U.S. economy added just 155,000 new jobs last month. That was barely higher than the consensus estimate among economists and the report also showed the unemployment rate in the world’s largest economy ticked higher to 7.8%.
This week, traders will turn their attention to the looming debt ceiling debate and monetary policy decisions by the European Central Bank and the Bank of England.
Elsewhere, Comex silver futures for March delivery added 1.2% to USD30.305 per ounce while copper for March delivery fell 0.28% to USD3.690 per ounce.
On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold futures for February delivery gained 0.66% to USD1,659.45 per troy ounce in Asian trading Monday. Bullion traded as high as USD1,660.05 and as low as USD1,655.95 per ounce.
After falling 0.3% last week, gold prices were likely to find support at USD1,626.05 a troy ounce, Friday’s low and a 19-week low and resistance at USD1,690.55, Thursday’s high.
Last week, gold futures were hammered following the release of the Federal Open Market Committee’s meeting minutes, which showed division among Federal Reserve governors regarding when the third round of quantitative easing should come to an end. The Fed still plans to buy $85 billion in bonds per month for the foreseeable future, but traders have interpreted the latest batch of FOMC minutes to mean there will be no QE4, at least not anytime soon.
Monetary easing usually pressures the dollar, increasing the value of dollar-denominated commodities, such as gold, in the process.
Gold was able to rebound somewhat late last week following Friday’s December non-farm payroll report that showed the U.S. economy added just 155,000 new jobs last month. That was barely higher than the consensus estimate among economists and the report also showed the unemployment rate in the world’s largest economy ticked higher to 7.8%.
This week, traders will turn their attention to the looming debt ceiling debate and monetary policy decisions by the European Central Bank and the Bank of England.
Elsewhere, Comex silver futures for March delivery added 1.2% to USD30.305 per ounce while copper for March delivery fell 0.28% to USD3.690 per ounce.