WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Gold futures closed slightly higher on Friday, but snapped a seven-week winning streak, with investors looking ahead to the U.S. Presidential Election, and the Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement next week.
Rising Middle East tensions helped spur some safe-haven demand for bullion after reports suggested that Iran is preparing to attack Israel from Iraqi territory in the coming days.
A stronger dollar weighed on gold prices. The dollar index, which dropped to 103.68 after the release of the jobs data, climbed to 104.31 later on, gaining about 0.3%.
Traders expect a 25-basis points cut at the Fed's November 6-7 meeting but differ on the chances of a rate cut at both is November and December meetings, according to the CME Group's FedWatch Tool.
Gold futures for November ended up $0.30 at $2,738.60 an ounce. Gold futures shed about 0.13% in the week.
Silver futures for November settled at $32.542 an ounce, down $0.111 or 0.34%. Silver futures lost 3.2% in the week.
Copper futures for November climbed to $4.3450 per pound, gaining $0.0315 or 0.73%.
Data from the Labor Department showed much weaker than expected job growth in the month of October. The data said non-farm payroll employment crept up by 12,000 jobs in October after jumping by a downwardly revised 223,000 jobs in September.
Economists had expected employment to climb by 113,000 jobs compared to the surge of 254,000 jobs originally reported for the previous month.
Meanwhile, the report said the unemployment rate came in at 4.1% in October, unchanged from September and in line with economist estimates.
While the data has raised some concerns about the strength of the economy, the report has also led to renewed optimism about the outlook for interest rates.
A report released by the Institute for Supply Management on Friday showed U.S. manufacturing activity unexpectedly contracted at a modestly faster rate in the month of October. The ISM said its manufacturing PMI fell to 46.5 in October from 47.2 in September, with a reading below 50 indicating contraction. Economists had expected the index to inch up to 47.6.
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