Gold steady at $3,360 after 2% Friday surge on weak US jobs, Fed rate cut hopes.
July payrolls rose 73,000; 90% chance Fed cuts; gold rises on weak dollar, yields.
Platinum, silver rise; US copper falls 0.7% amid 20% plunge, surging inventories.
Gold Holds Steady in Asian Trade After Friday’s Sharp Gains
Gold prices remained steady during Monday’s Asian trading session following a substantial rally in the previous session. Spot gold hovered around $3,360.26 per ounce, while December gold futures inched up 0.2% to $3,41270 per ounce by 01:03 ET (05:03 GMT). The metal surged more than 2% on Friday, recovering much of last week’s earlier losses and marking a weekly gain after two consecutive weeks of declines.
Investor optimism was boosted by expectations of Federal Reserve interest rate cuts amid disappointing U.S. employment data and escalating trade tensions under President Donald Trump.
Weak U.S. Jobs Data and Rate Cut Bets Support Gold
Data released Friday revealed that U.S. nonfarm payrolls increased by a modest 73,000 in July, significantly missing forecasts. Additionally, job growth figures for May and June were revised downward. The unemployment rate edged up to 4.2%, intensifying concerns about a cooling U.S. economy. These factors have pushed markets to price in roughly a 90% chance of a Federal Reserve rate reduction in September.
Lower rates decrease the appeal of yield-bearing assets compared to non-yielding gold, enhancing its attractiveness. Concurrently, falling Treasury yields and a softer U.S. dollar—down 0.4% on Monday after sliding 0.8% on Friday—also contributed to nearly a 2% boost in gold prices, reinforcing bullion’s status as a safe haven amid tariff-driven inflation fears.
Mixed Moves in Base Metals Amidst Tariff Impact
Meanwhile, other metals posted varied results. Platinum futures nudged up 0.2% to $1,318.65 per ounce, and silver futures climbed 0.6% to $37.150 per ounce. Copper showed contrasting performances: London Metal Exchange benchmark copper futures gained 0.3% to $9,672.75 per ton, where as U.S. copper futures dropped 0.7% to $4.42 per pound.
Last week, U.S. copper prices plunged 20% after President Trump exempted refined copper from his slated 50% import tariff.
According to analysts at ING, an arbitrage collapse has resulted in a significant copper surplus in U.S. warehouses. Comex copper inventories have reached a 21-year high, suggesting the excess stock could be re-exported, exerting bearish pressure on LME prices as more copper shipments may flood those warehouses.
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