Last Friday’s release of domestic payroll data gave gold a boost as investors appeared to continue to rely on the Federal Reserve pumping out stimulus action as long as necessary.
The data showed that U.S. employers added more jobs than expected in November, and the unemployment rate dropped to 7.7 percent from 7.9 percent.
Earlier on Friday, gold had dropped to a one-month low, chiefly based on appearances that upbeat hiring and jobs growth might put a halt to the metal’s safe-haven function.
But downward revisions to employment numbers for September and October, as well as early-December drops in consumer confidence, helped push gold prices up.
Although the payroll data was encouraging, it was not so terrific that it eased concerns over the fiscal cliff, and investors remain anxious over the upcoming Federal Reserve policy meeting this week.
Reuters reports:
“It’s all about QE with these metals and I don’t think there is any end of that in 2013,” said Matthew Schilling, commodities broker at futures brokerage RJ O’Brien.
Spot gold rose to $1,702/oz by 2:27PM Eastern, a rise of 0.2 percent. U.S. COMEX futures for December rose to $1,705.50.
Meanwhile, holdings for gold-backed ETFs hit a record high of 76.133 million ounces on Thursday, even as October gold imports from Hong Kong to China dropped to their lowest in nearly a year.
Gold continued to rise on Monday morning in anticipation of the Federal Reserve meeting.
