WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Gold prices fell to a month-low on Friday as robust non-farm payroll data for the month of May raised concerns the Federal Reserve might keep interest rates higher for a longer time, and pushed up the dollar's value against several other currencies.
Reports saying China held off gold purchases last month after buying the yellow metal for eighteen consecutive months.
The dollar index climbed to 104.93, gaining about 0.8%.
Gold futures for August were down $67.00 or about 2.8% at $2,323.90 an ounce.
Silver futures for July were down $1.987 or 6.3% at $29.380 an ounce, while Copper futures for July were down $0.2090 or 4.47% at $4.4690 per pound.
Data from the Labor Department showed non-farm payroll employment surged by 272,000 jobs in May after climbing by a downwardly revised 165,000 jobs in April. Economists had expected employment to increase by about 185,000 jobs compared to the addition of 175,000 jobs originally reported for the previous month.
The report also showed the annual rate of growth by average hourly employee earnings accelerated to 4.1% in May from 4% in April.
Meanwhile, the Labor Department said the unemployment rate crept up to 4% in May from 3.9% in April. The unemployment rate was expected to remain unchanged. With the unexpected increase, the unemployment rate reached its highest level since hitting a matching rate in January 2022.
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