AGE Daily Gold Update

AGE Daily Gold Update presents a recap on today's action in the precious metals markets. View archives.

11/1/2019: Gold notches third weekly win

Source: Bill Musgrave, American Gold Exchange

Austin — Gold dipped 0.2% but held above $1,511 on mixed US data as traders took profits from yesterday's 1.2% surge to a 5-week high. The metal finished the week 0.4% higher for its third straight weekly win.

US nonfarm payrolls added a surprising 128,000 jobs in October, beating expectations, as a fall-off in manufacturing labor because 46,000 striking GM employees was offset by increased hiring elsewhere in the economy. Totals for August and September were revised higher by a total of 98,000. The unemployment rate crept up from 3.5% to 3.6%.

While the growth in hiring was below the 2019 monthly average of 167,000, and far below 2018's average of 223,000, it was still considered a win for the economy. Given the GM strike and struggling manufacturing sector, most forecasts were around 75,000 jobs added.

Wall Street rallied on the upbeat report, with the Dow and Nasdaq adding around 1% each. Treasury yields inched higher with rising risk appetite.

Downbeat factory data helped to backstop gold's slide. The ISM reported manufacturing contracted for the third straight month because of ongoing trade conflicts and slowing global demand for US exports.

Gold jumped 1.2% in the previous session after the Fed cut interest rates on Wednesday for the third time this year, and Fed Chair Jerome Powell signaled that rates will stay low for the foreseeable future. Lower interest rates support gold and other commodities by pressuring the dollar and lowering the opportunity costs for holding non-yielding assets.

The other precious metals were mixed for the day and higher for the week. Silver edged down 0.1% today but rose 0.7% this week. Platinum gained 0.9% for a weekly rise of 2.2%. Palladium climbed 1.6% today and 2.3% this week.

At the Comex close: December gold dropped $3.40 to $1,511.40; December silver dipped nearly 2 cents to $18.05; January platinum climbed $20.30 to $954; and December palladium added $28.70, to $1,784.30 an ounce.