Gold Prices Slip after Jobs Data; Silver Prices also Edge Lower
Gold prices fell in trading on Friday following a weaker than expected jobs report for the moth of June. Gold prices also came under pressure from a stronger dollar. Meanwhile, silver prices also edged lower in trading on Friday.
Gold for delivery in August on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange fell $30.50 to settle at $1,578.90 an ounce. Gold fell 1.6% for the week.
The Labor Department on Friday reported that the U.S. economy added only 80,000 jobs last month, below economists’ forecast of a gain of 90,000 jobs. The unemployment rate remained unchanged at 8.2%.
The weaker than expected jobs data has raised prospects of further quantitative easing from the Federal Reserve. Although further monetary easing would be a positive for gold, the precious metal fell on Friday.
Gold prices slipped as the U.S. dollar strengthened against the euro. The dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six currencies, rose to 83.377 on Friday.
In other precious metals, silver also fell. At last check, silver futures for September delivery were down $0.75 to $26.92 an ounce.
Silver ETFs also dropped on Friday. At last check, the iShares Silver Trust (ETF) (NYSE: SLV) was down 2.31% to $26.26, and the ProShares Ultra Silver (ETF) (NYSE: AGQ) was down 4.70% to $36.92.
The ProShares UltraShort Silver (ETF) (NYSE: ZSL) rose more than 4% on Friday.
Platinum and palladium also dropped in trading on Friday. At last check, October platinum was down 1.9% to $1,449.50 an ounce, while September palladium was down 0.9% to $580.35 an ounce.
More Posts by this author
- Best Buy Slashes 2,400 Jobs (BBY)
- Gold Prices Settle Lower
- Stocks End Lower after Weak Jobs Data
- Gold Prices Slip after Jobs Data; Silver Prices also Edge Lower
- Stocks Headed for a Sharply Lower Finish
- U.S. Stocks Continue to Slide after Weak Jobs Report
- Christopher & Banks – CBK – Rejects Unsolicited Proposal as Not in the Best Interest of Stockholders
 |
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.
|
