Daily Gold Update

Source: American Gold Exchange

Austin— Gold lost ground for the first time in four sessions as a strong jobs report prompted investors to shift profits toward equities. After five weeks of almost uninterrupted gains totaling some 12%, gold was ripe for a profit-taking correction, according to a survey of gold traders today by Kitco News. The dollar also lost ground on the jobs data, while the S&P 500 gained 1.4% and the Stoxx Europe 600 added 1.7%. Despite giving back 1.1% on the day, gold still gained .5% on the week. Platinum and palladium, being more industrial metals, gained slightly today while silver lost 1.3%

At the Comex close: April gold lost $19 to close at $1,740.30; March silver slid 43 cents to $33.75; April platinum added $2, to $1,631.90; and March palladium gained $1.20 to $708.85.

The good jobs news was a welcome change. Unemployment fell to 8.3% as the economy added a quarter-million jobs in January, far more than expected, and totals for November and December were revised higher. Employment has grown by 2 million jobs since last summer, the most in six years, according to Rex Nutting at Marketwatch. Adding to the optimism, the ISM services index gained 3.8%, reaching its highest level since last February, while U.S. factory orders rose by 1.1% in December, which was slightly less than expected but still respectable, especially since November's totals were revised significantly higher.

All told, these encouraging signs of growth are leading some to wonder whether the Fed might reconsider its promise of near-zero interest rates into late 2014, or forego another round of quantitative easing this spring. The big dogs at Pimco say no way. According to Bloomberg, legendary bond guru Bill Gross thinks the Fed "will maintain accommodative monetary policy and consider more asset purchases even with the U.S. employment market expanding." Pimco CEO Mohamed El-Erian added, "We should welcome the headline numbers, they are really good, but we should not lose sight that we have structural issues that aren�t being dealt with� So far the Fed has been dismissing the short-term data." Most gold traders in the Kitco News survey expect gold prices to rise again next week.