Gold futures on Friday had the biggest weekly loss since Donald Trump was elected US president as better-than-expected US jobs data further eroded demand for the metal as a haven.
US payrolls increased by 211,000, topping the 190,000 median estimate of economists surveyed by Bloomberg, a US government report showed on Friday.
The jobless rate unexpectedly fell to 4.4 percent, indicating that the labor market remains healthy and should support continued increases in consumer spending.
Signs of stability and growth have kept gold under pressure most of the week, with the metal crashing below its 200-day moving average.
On Wednesday, US Federal Reserve officials signaled they view a recent slowdown in US economic growth as temporary and will stay on a gradual path of policy tightening.
“The data has shown that there is momentum in the economy,” Think Markets UK Ltd chief market analyst Naeem Aslam said. “It appears that the Fed is on the correct side of the trade.”
Gold futures for June delivery on Friday fell 0.1 percent to settle at US$1,226.90 an ounce at on the Comex in New York. For the week, the metal lost 3.3 percent, the biggest drop since Nov. 11 last year.
While the US unemployment rate is the lowest since May 2007, wages were a soft spot in Friday’s report, climbing only 2.5 percent from a year earlier.
“It was mostly a good report, which will likely have prompted most people to think the Fed is on, so that would apply downside pressure on gold,” Bart Melek, head of commodity strategy at TD Securities in Toronto, said in a telephone interview.
Other metals:
Silver futures had a 14th straight decline, the longest slump since 1980.
Platinum and palladium futures climbed on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Copper rose 0.8 percent to settle at US$5,585 per tonne in London. The metal fell 2.6 percent this week.
Nickel dropped to a 10-month low on the London Metal Exchange after lawmakers in the Philippines rejected the appointment of Gina Lopez as secretary of environment and natural resources.
Iron ore futures on Friday fell 6.3 percent after falling 5.3 percent on Thursday.
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