WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Gold futures settled notably higher on Friday as the dollar shed value and Treasury yields fell after data showing an increase in U.S. unemployment rate raised hopes of an interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve in September.
The dollar index, which dropped to 104.83 after the release of the jobs data by the Labor Department, recovered 105.00 around mid morning, but retreated again to 104.95, recording a loss of about 0.16%.
Gold futures for July ended up by $28.70 or about 1.22% at $2,388.50 an ounce. Gold futures gained 2.6% in the week, recording their second weekly gain in succession.
Silver futures for July ended up $0.840 or about 2.75% at $31.388 an ounce. For the week, silver futures added about 7.4%.
Copper futures for August climbed to $4.6585 per pound, gaining $1.1245 or about 2.75%.
In U.S., the Labor Department said non-farm payroll employment shot up by 206,000 jobs in June compared to economist estimates for an increase of about 190,000 jobs. The report also showed the increases in employment in April and May were downwardly revised to 108,000 jobs and 218,000 jobs, respectively, reflecting a net downward revision of 111,000 jobs.
The unemployment rate also rose for the third straight month, inching up to 4.1% in June from 4% in May. Economists had expected the unemployment rate to remain unchanged. With the unexpected uptick, the unemployment rate reached its highest level since hitting a matching rate in November 2021.
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