Gold rose on Friday, trimming a weekly loss as the US dollar weakened after disappointing US payrolls data supported the case for more economic stimulus.
The US added half as many jobs as expected last month, and December last year’s figures were revised lower, a US government report showed.
The US dollar fell for the first time in three days, increasing demand for bullion as an alternative asset.
The labor report came after the US Senate voted to adopt a budget blueprint for US President Joe Biden’s US$1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package.
Gold has slumped this year, with progress on vaccines helping the outlook for a recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic and diminishing the appeal of the metal as a haven.
Investors are weighing that view against the possibility that further stimulus could weaken the US dollar and boost consumer prices, with bullion often used as an inflation hedge.
“Today’s data has reaffirmed the need of another round of stimulus, which is helping the gold price,” Ava Trade chief market analyst Naeem Aslam said. “Moreover, the price of gold was way oversold, and this has provided the perfect catalyst for retracement.”
Earlier gains in US Treasury yields faded, giving an additional spur for precious metals, which do not offer interest.
Jonathan Butler, a strategist at Mitsubishi Corp UK PLC, said that this year “will be a year of two halves: The next several months will be marked by a worsening coronavirus situation and associated negative economic impact globally, offset only by further massive fiscal and monetary stimulus.”
Gold posted a second straight weekly drop, and its 50-day moving average is on the cusp of dropping below its 200-day counterpart, approaching a so-called death cross pattern that can signal further losses.
Spot gold on Friday rose 1 percent to US$1,814.54 an ounce in New York, after dropping to US$1,785 on Thursday, the lowest intraday price since Dec. 1 last year. It is down 2.3 percent this week.
Gold futures for April delivery on the Comex climbed 1.2 percent to settle at US$1,813 an ounce.
Silver for immediate delivery rose 2.1 percent, steadying after recent market turmoil. The metal became a target of a retail-driven short-squeeze attempt, leading to an early week surge followed by a collapse.
Palladium and platinum gained.
Additional reporting by staff writer
To many, Tatu City on the outskirts of Nairobi looks like a success. The first city entirely built by a private company to be operational in east Africa, with about 25,000 people living and working there, it accounts for about two-thirds of all foreign investment in Kenya. Its low-tax status has attracted more than 100 businesses including Heineken, coffee brand Dormans, and the biggest call-center and cold-chain transport firms in the region. However, to some local politicians, Tatu City has looked more like a target for extortion. A parade of governors have demanded land worth millions of dollars in exchange
Hong Kong authorities ramped up sales of the local dollar as the greenback’s slide threatened the foreign-exchange peg. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) sold a record HK$60.5 billion (US$7.8 billion) of the city’s currency, according to an alert sent on its Bloomberg page yesterday in Asia, after it tested the upper end of its trading band. That added to the HK$56.1 billion of sales versus the greenback since Friday. The rapid intervention signals efforts from the city’s authorities to limit the local currency’s moves within its HK$7.75 to HK$7.85 per US dollar trading band. Heavy sales of the local dollar by
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC, 台積電) revenue jumped 48 percent last month, underscoring how electronics firms scrambled to acquire essential components before global tariffs took effect. The main chipmaker for Apple Inc and Nvidia Corp reported monthly sales of NT$349.6 billion (US$11.6 billion). That compares with the average analysts’ estimate for a 38 percent rise in second-quarter revenue. US President Donald Trump’s trade war is prompting economists to retool GDP forecasts worldwide, casting doubt over the outlook for everything from iPhone demand to computing and datacenter construction. However, TSMC — a barometer for global tech spending given its central role in the
The Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) yesterday met with some of the nation’s largest insurance companies as a skyrocketing New Taiwan dollar piles pressure on their hundreds of billions of dollars in US bond investments. The commission has asked some life insurance firms, among the biggest Asian holders of US debt, to discuss how the rapidly strengthening NT dollar has impacted their operations, people familiar with the matter said. The meeting took place as the NT dollar jumped as much as 5 percent yesterday, its biggest intraday gain in more than three decades. The local currency surged as exporters rushed to
RSS