Gold prices finished higher on Thursday after touching intraday highs above the key $2,000 an ounce level for the first time since mid-May.
Investors eyed developments tied to the debt-ceiling deal and looked ahead to monthly labor market data due Friday.
Price action
-
Gold futures for August delivery
GC00,
-1.56% GCQ23,
-1.56%
gained $13.40, or 0.7%, to settle at $1,995.50 per ounce on Comex after trading as high as $2,000.70 during the session, FactSet data show. -
Silver futures for July delivery
SI00,
-1.22% SIN23,
-1.22%
increased by 40 cents, or 1.7%, to $23.99 per ounce. -
Platinum futures due in July
PLN23,
-0.14%
climbed by $11.10, or 1.1%, to $1,010.10 per ounce, while palladium for September
PAU23,
+2.18%
gained $31.70, or 2.3%, to $1,390.70 per ounce. -
Copper for July delivery
HGN23,
+0.59%
rose by 7 cents, or 2%, to settle at $3.71 per pound.
Market drivers
The U.S. House of Representatives voted 314-117 in favor of raising the federal debt-ceiling on Wednesday night, keeping Washington on track to avoid a technical default by June 5.
Read Debt-ceiling deal: Here’s what’s next as Senate prepares to vote
Traders were also digesting a batch of U.S. employment data released early Thursday which suggested the labor market remained healthy. ADP private-sector employment data released Thursday showed that the U.S. added 278,000 in May, surpassing economists’ expectations by nearly 100,000.
Gold prices are still trading in positive territory for this week, which is an “encouraging sign” for precious-metal traders, said Naeem Aslam, chief investment officer at Zaye Capital Markets. “Gold has been out of luck as traders are concerned about the strength of the dollar index, which continues to move higher due to higher odds of another interest-rate hike.”
The ICE U.S. Dollar index
DXY,
was down 0.7% at 103.56 in Thursday trading, but up 1% quarter to date.
This week is “highly important for gold traders as the U.S. jobs data is going to lay the foundation for gold’s price action,” Aslam said in emailed commentary.
Indeed, investor attention now turns to the May employment data from the U.S. Labor Department due Friday. The U.S. is expected to add 180,000 jobs in May, down from 253,000 in the prior month, economists polled by the Wall Street Journal estimate. That would be the second-smallest increase this year.
Read: Jobs report expected to show further slowdown in U.S. hiring
Friday’s NFP report, as well as the upcoming U.S. CPI data, are “set to hold sway over the Fed’s next interest rate moves,” said Han Tan, chief market analyst at Exinity Group, in market commentary.
“If hiring momentum in the U.S. jobs market softens meaningfully that should allow the Fed to pause its aggressive rate hikes,” he said. “Such hopes should carve out more breathing space for the likes of equities and gold.”
Meanwhile, lower Treasury yields this week have helped boost the price of gold, market analysts said, by making bonds seem less appealing. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note
TMUBMUSD10Y,
was off by 2.3 basis points in Thursday dealings to 3.612%.
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