Stock Market Watch

Gold, Silver Prices Slip Before Non-Farm Payrolls Data

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Gold prices eased further during Asian trading hours on Friday as investors remained in sidelines waiting for the Labor Department’s monthly non-farm payrolls report, a data on which the Federal Reserve’s stance on current quantitative easing hinges. Silver prices also edged lower in early trading on Friday.

At last check, gold futures for December delivery edged down 0.44% to $1,366.90 an ounce while spot gold was flat at 1,367.15 an ounce

Bullion prices have plunged about 18% since the beginning of the year. For most part of the year, market participants remained reluctant to take positions in inflation-hedge bets under assumption that the Federal Reserve might announce an end to its accommodating monetary policy during the second half of 2013.

Besides, the metal’s safe haven appeal also took a beating after concerns over any imminent U.S. led military intervention in Syria eased significantly with many international allies opposing President Obama’s stance.

The Fed’s extremely accommodating monetary policy (record low interest rates and rampant currency printing for government backed asset purchases) have been the key factor behind bullion’s bull runs after the financial crisis of 2008/09. The metal peaked at $1,920 an ounce in September 2011.

The Labor Department is slated to release its August’s non-farm payrolls data at 8:30 a.m. EST. Economists polled by Reuters expect 180,000 new job additions compared to 162,000 in July.

According to ANZ, should the job figures are softer-than-expected, say, 160,000, then gold prices could gain traction.

Silver futures fell 0.39% to $23.16 an ounce.

In pre-market trading, the iShares Silver Trust (ETF) (NYSE: SLV) was up 0.13%, and the ProShares Ultra Silver (ETF) (NYSE: AGQ) was down 0.09%








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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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