WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Gold futures settled lower on Friday as the dollar moved up on fading prospects of a 50 basis point interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve in November after data showed a more than expected increase in U.S. non-farm payroll employment in the month of September.
Persisting worries about Middle East tensions limited the yellow metal's downside.
The dollar index, which climbed to 102.69 after the upbeat jobs data, eased slightly to 102.56, but still remained nearly 0.6% from the previous close.
Gold futures for October ended down by $11.30 or about 0.43% at $2,645.80 an ounce today. For the week, gold futures gained a marginal $1.50 or 0.06%.
Silver futures for October ended down $0.061 or 0.19% at $32.128 an ounce. Silver futures gained $0.609 or nearly 2% in the week.
Copper futures for October advanced to $4.5220 per pound, gaining $0.0200 or about 0.44%.
Data from the Labor Department showed that non-farm payroll employment jumped by 254,000 jobs in September after climbing by an upwardly revised 159,000 jobs in August. Economists had expected employment to rise by 140,000 jobs compared to the addition of 142,000 jobs originally reported for the previous month.
The report also showed the unemployment rate edged down to 4.1% in September from 4.2% in August. Economists had expected the unemployment rate to remain unchanged.
The stronger than expected jobs growth eased concerns about the economic outlook, but dashed hopes of aggressive rate cuts in the coming months.
Following the jobs data, CME Group's FedWatch Tool is indicating a 91.2% the Fed will lower rates by a quarter point in November and just a 8.8% chance of another half point rate cut.
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