By Ira Iosebashvili 

Gold prices notched their biggest daily loss in a month Friday after robust U.S. employment data undercut the case for haven assets.

Gold for December delivery closed down 1.2% at $1,459.10 a troy ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, their largest one day percentage loss since November 7.

Employers added 266,000 jobs in November and the jobless rate fell to a 50-year low of 3.5%, matching September's level, the Labor Department said Friday. Economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal had forecast a gain of 187,000 new jobs in November.

The stronger-than-expected numbers pushed stocks and the dollar higher but weighed on gold, which had been boosted earlier in the year by fears that a trade fight with China would weigh on the U.S. economy and push the Federal Reserve to cut rates more aggressively than expected.

Gold struggles to compete with yield-bearing investments when rates rise.

Other popular destinations for nervous investors, such as Treasurys and the Swiss franc, also weakened.

In base metals, December copper was up 2.6% at $2.7110 a pound. Copper is heavily used in manufacturing and construction, making its price sensitive to economic growth expectations.

Oil prices also rose. Brent crude, the global benchmark, was up 1.6% at $64.39 a barrel. The U.S. crude benchmark was up 1.3% at $59.20 a barrel.

Write to Ira Iosebashvili at ira.iosebashvili@wsj.com

 

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

December 06, 2019 16:49 ET (21:49 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2019 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.