JABAR EKSPRES – Gold prices rallied in late trading Friday (6/2) morning, extending gains for a fourth straight day on course to record its best weekly since March, as the dollar fell following weakening U.S. jobs and manufacturing data that indicated a pause in interest rate hikes at this month’s Fed meeting.
The most-active gold contract for August delivery on the Comex division of the New York Exchange, jumped 13.40 U.S. dollars or 0.68 percent to close at 1,995.50 U.S. dollars per ounce, after touching a session high of 2,000.70 U.S. dollars and a low of 1,970.10 U.S. dollars.
Gold futures lifted 5 US dollars or 0.25 percent to 1,982.10 US dollars on Wednesday (5/31), after lifting 14.00 US dollars or 0.71 percent to 1,977.10 US dollars on Tuesday (5/30), and pushed up 60 cents or 0.03 percent to 1,944.30 US dollars on Friday (5/26).
The Comex exchange was closed on Monday (5/29) for the Memorial Day holiday. For the week, gold saw a return of 2.6 percent, the most since the week to March 10.
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The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major rivals, saw its biggest one-day drop since March 10, slipping 0.7 percent, to a session low of 103.435. The decline came after an industry report showed layoffs in the US technology, retail and automotive sectors surged last month as overall hiring was at its lowest level since 2016.
The dollar also fell as Patrick Timothy Harker, one of the Fed’s policymakers and president of the Federal Reserve for the Philadelphia region, said on Thursday that the central bank “should at least skip a rate hike in June.”
Markets are awaiting the monthly jobs report due Friday, which will lay the groundwork for gold price action.
Economic data released Thursday (6/1) was mixed. The US Department of Labor reported that US initial claims for the country’s unemployment benefits rose 2,000 to a seasonally adjusted 232,000 for the week ended May 27.
