Gold Lower After US Jobs Data Helps USD

Gold pared gains on Thursday, slipping back below $1,100 an ounce as a steeper-than-forecast drop in U.S. jobless claims helped the dollar recover from earlier lows, though prices remained under pressure after this week’s plunge.

Gold posted its deepest one-day loss in nearly two years on Monday, pushing prices through key chart levels and setting it up for further weakness. Low prices tempted some buyers back to the market on Wednesday, but gains remained muted.

Spot gold was up 0.3 percent at $1,096.40 an ounce at 1428 GMT, off a high of $1,105.60. U.S. gold futures for August delivery were up $3.80 an ounce at $1,095.30.

Gold has been undermined this year by expectations that the U.S. Federal Reserve is on track to raise interest rates for the first time in nearly a decade, boosting the cost of holding non-yielding bullion and lifting the dollar.

“The markets are all focusing on a September rate hike, so assuming that is when it occurs, you have to think that gold is going to remain under downward pressure up until that point,” Citi analyst David Wilson said.

via Reuters

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Alfonso Esparza

Alfonso Esparza

Senior Currency Analyst at Market Pulse
Alfonso Esparza specializes in macro forex strategies for North American and major currency pairs. Upon joining OANDA in 2007, Alfonso Esparza established the MarketPulseFX blog and he has since written extensively about central banks and global economic and political trends. Alfonso has also worked as a professional currency
trader focused on North America and emerging markets. He has been published by The MarketWatch, Reuters, the Wall Street Journal and The Globe and Mail, and he also appears regularly as a guest commentator on networks including Bloomberg and BNN. He holds a finance degree from the Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education (ITESM) and an MBA with a specialization on financial engineering and marketing from the University of Toronto.
Alfonso Esparza