Stock Market Watch

Gold Prices Settle Lower; Silver Prices Gain

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U.S. gold futures edged lower on Friday as surprisingly strong non-farm payrolls data boosted the U.S. dollar against major traded currencies, making dollar-dominated commodities expensive. Silver prices, meanwhile, edged higher on Friday.

Stronger than expected job data also boosted investors’ risk appetite, and hurt the precious metal’s safe-haven appeal.

U.S. gold futures for June delivery slipped $3.40, or 0.2%, to settle at $1,464.20 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. For the week, gold futures edged down 0.7%.

Spot gold was last trading almost flat at $1,466.60, in electronic trading. Earlier today during Asian and European trading hours gold prices rallied as investors were edgy ahead of the Labor Department’s non-farm payrolls data release. Investors feared that in case the employment number showed weakness then the Federal Reserve might have come under more pressure to provide more economic stimulating measures. As a result, the U.S. dollar came under pressure.

However, the U.S. dollar quickly pared its losses after the Labor Department’s data showed that the U.S. economy added 165,000 new jobs in April against economists’ expectation of 135,000 job creations. This in turn weighed on the demand for dollar-dominated commodities.

Still, physical side demand from Asia continued to provide support.

In a note to investors, Eugen Weinberg, an analyst at Commerbank said, “Gold reversed initial gains as we have a combination of stronger dollar and better sentiment towards the economy after the jobs data.”

“But prices are still holding up well as there are still elements providing support, such as the strong physical demand and the implication of the ECB rate cut,” added Weinberg.

Silver futures were last up 0.99% to almost $24 an ounce.

In late trading, the iShares Silver Trust (ETF) (NYSE: SLV) was up 1%, and the ProShares Ultra Silver (ETF) (NYSE: AGQ) was up 2.18%.

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edliston
Post Written By: Ed Liston
Ed Liston is a senior contributing editor at TheStockMarketWatch.com. An active market watcher and investor, Ed guides an independent team of experienced analysts and writes for multiple stock trader publications. He is widely quoted in various financial publications on the Internet. When Ed is not writing about stocks, investing in stocks, talking about stocks, or otherwise doing something stock related, he likes to go sailing and fishing in his yacht.

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Ed Liston

Ed Liston is a senior contributing editor at TheStockMarketWatch.com. An active market watcher and investor, Ed guides an independent team of experienced analysts and writes for multiple stock trader publications. He is widely quoted in various financial publications on the Internet. When Ed is not writing about stocks, investing in stocks, talking about stocks, or otherwise doing something stock related, he likes to go sailing and fishing.

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