Gold Falls After Strong Jobless Report
December 06 2019 - 05:04PM
Dow Jones News
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)
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