WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Gold prices climbed higher on Friday as escalating geopolitical tensions continued to prompt investors to seek the safe-haven commodity, despite data showing stronger than expected U.S. non-farm payroll employment adding to concerns about the outlook for Fed interest rates.
A firm dollar limited gold's upside a bit. The dollar index, which climbed to 104.69 after upbeat jobs data, pared some gains subsequently and was last seen at 104.30, up 0.17% from Thursday's close.
Gold futures for June ended higher by $36.90 or about 1.6% at $2,345.40 an ounce. Gold futures gained about 5% in the week.
Silver futures for May ended up by $0.256 at $27.503 an ounce, while Copper futures for May settled at $4.2360 per pound, down $0.0130 from the previous close.
The U.S. Labor Department said non-farm payroll employment spiked by 303,000 jobs in March after surging by a downwardly revised 270,000 jobs in February. Economists had expected employment to jump by 200,000 jobs compared to the addition of 275,000 jobs originally reported for the previous month.
The report also said the unemployment rate edged down to 3.8% in March from 3.9% in February, while economists had expected the unemployment rate to come in unchanged.
Although the stronger than expected job growth has added to recent concerns about the outlook for interest rates, the report also showed a continued slowdown in the annual rate of wage growth.
The Labor Department said the annual rate of wage growth slowed to 4.1% in March from 4.3% in February, in line with estimates.
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