NEW YORK (KITCO) - Gold extended gains after a jobs report showed more Americans are coming back to the labor market, a welcome sign for the Federal Reserve as it tries to cool inflation.
Spot gold rose 1.0% to $1,713.20 per ounce by 11:40 a.m. ET, though it remains on track for a third straight weekly loss. U.S. gold futures were up 0.9% to $1,725 per ounce in New York.
Meanwhile, the dollar retreated following the latest U.S. jobs data, which fell mostly in line with expectations. U.S. non-farm payrolls rose 315,000 last month, slightly higher than the median economist estimate.
The increase in non-farm payrolls was broadly in line with expectations “and therefore doesn’t add much pressure on the US Federal Reserve to raise rates faster than the market already expected,” Capital Economics commodities economist Edward Gardner said in a message to Bloomberg.
“The gold price rose slightly on the news as the data release reduces the risk of faster-than-expected rate hikes going forward, which would raise the opportunity cost of holding gold,” Gardner added.