Sign up to create alerts for Instruments,
Economic Events and content by followed authors
Free Sign Up Already have an account? Sign In
Quotes
All Instrument Types
- All Instrument Types
- Indices
- Equities
- ETFs
- Funds
- Commodities
- Currencies
- Crypto
- Bonds
- Certificates
Please try another search
💎 Reveal Undervalued Stocks Hiding in Any Market Get Started
Gold turns flat before payrolls data, copper cheered by China reopening
© Reuters.
By Ambar Warrick
Investing.com -- Gold prices hovered near seven-month highs on Friday as markets awaited a key reading on U.S. nonfarm payrolls, while copper prices reversed weekly losses amid the relaxing of more anti-COVID measures in major importer China.
U.S. nonfarm payrolls are expected to have eased slightly in December, indicating some cooling in the labor market after a series of sharp rate hikes by the Federal Reserve in 2022. But given that the reading has consistently topped estimates for eight months running, markets fear that any signs of resilience in the jobs market will give the Fed enough headroom for more hawkish moves.
Spot gold rose 0.1% to $1,834.53 an ounce, while gold futures fell 0.1% to $1,839.25 an ounce by 19:50 ET (00:50 GMT). Still, both instruments were set for a 0.5% gain this week - their third straight week in black.
Gold prices were supported by recent signals from the Fed that the central bank will likely raise interest rates at a slower pace in 2023, after a series of sharp hikes in the prior year. Fears of a looming recession in 2023 also saw bullion prices benefit from a resurgence in safe haven demand.
But central bank policymakers indicated that they will likely hold rates higher for longer, with curbing inflation being their main focus. This has brewed much uncertainty over exactly where U.S. rates will peak, given that inflation is still well above the Fed’s target 2% rate.
The Fed also indicated that it will look for some cooling in the job market to ease its hawkish rhetoric. But so far, the U.S. labor market has remained resilient despite headwinds from slowing growth.
Safe haven demand helped gold largely outperform other precious metals for the week. Platinum futures were down 1.3% this week, while silver futures shed nearly 3%.
Among industrial metals, copper prices traded flat after sharply reversing recent losses on Thursday after the Chinese government said it will reopen the border with financial hub Hong Kong on January 8.
The move points to the relaxing of more anti-COVID curbs in China, and ramped up optimism over a broader reopening in the country. Copper futures were flat around $3.8252 a pound and were headed for a third straight week of gains, following an over 2% rally on Thursday.
Still, China is facing an unprecedented spike in COVID-19 cases after the country relaxed curbs in December. Analysts have warned that this trend could delay a broader reopening, and also cause near-term market volatility.
Related Articles
Add Chart to Comment
Confirm Block
Are you sure you want to block %USER_NAME%?
By doing so, you and %USER_NAME% will not be able to see any of each other's Investing.com's posts.
%USER_NAME% was successfully added to your Block List
Since you’ve just unblocked this person, you must wait 48 hours before renewing the block.
Report this comment
I feel that this comment is:
Comment flagged
Thank You!
Your report has been sent to our moderators for review
Add a Comment
We encourage you to use comments to engage with other users, share your perspective and ask questions of authors and each other. However, in order to maintain the high level of discourse we’ve all come to value and expect, please keep the following criteria in mind:
Enrich the conversation, don’t trash it.
Stay focused and on track. Only post material that’s relevant to the topic being discussed.
Be respectful. Even negative opinions can be framed positively and diplomatically. Avoid profanity, slander or personal attacks directed at an author or another user. Racism, sexism and other forms of discrimination will not be tolerated.
Perpetrators of spam or abuse will be deleted from the site and prohibited from future registration at Investing.com’s discretion.