Daily Gold Update

Source:Bill Musgrave, American Gold Exchange

AustinGold gained 0.4% to close above $1,976 after soft payrolls data raised hopes that the Fed is done raising interest rates, undercutting yields and the dollar while lifting alternative assets. The metal still dropped 1.2% for the week.

The Labor Department reported a meager 187,000 jobs were added to nonfarm payrolls in July, fewer than forecast, and totals for May and June were also revised lower. But the unemployment rate ticked down from 3.6% to 3.5% and wage growth remained elevated at 4.4% over the past 12 months.

Benchmark 10-year Treasury yields slipped as traders speculated that a cooling labor market will make the Fed less inclined to raise interest again. Falling yields support gold by decreasing the opportunity cost for holding it instead of bonds as safe-haven asset.

Fed fund futures trading raised the odds of a pause at the September Fed meeting to 85%, up from 78% before the NFP print, while the odds of another rate hike in 2023 dropped from 35% to 30%.

The dollar shed 0.6% on the rate view, buoying gold and other commodities by making them less expensive overseas.

Gold came under significant pressure earlier in the week after upbeat ISM data on both the services and manufacturing sectors, along with a strong ADP report on private payrolls, pushed 10-year yields to nearly 4.2%, the highest this year. Today's softer figures on the more-authoritative nonfarm payrolls report pulled them back down toward 4%.

The other precious metals were higher for the day and mixed for the week. Silver edged up 0.1% for a weekly loss of 3.2%. Platinum picked up 0.7% today but slid 1.6% this week. Palladium picked up 0.6% for a weekly win of 2%.

At the Comex close: December gold gained $7.30 to $1,976.10; September silver added 2 cents, to $23.72; October platinum futures rose $6.70 to $928.50; and September palladium climbed $7.20 to $1,264.60 an ounce.