Gold Price Cuts Biggest Weekly Fall Since Trump Vote Before Jobs Data

New York (May 5)  Gold tempered its biggest weekly decline since Donald Trump was elected president in the U.S. as traders awaited payrolls numbers and amid increasing expectations Emmanuel Macron will win the polls in France.

Bullion for immediate delivery was up 0.4 percent at $1,233.42 an ounce by 9:55 a.m. in London, paring its weekly decline to 2.8 percent, still the biggest drop since Nov. 11. Ahead of the jobs report, data Thursday showed claims for U.S. unemployment benefits, already at multi-decade lows, fell in the latest week, while polls showed Macron pulling further ahead of far-right opponent Marine Le Pen.

Le Pen, 48, wants France to turn away from the European Union and its commercial partners to shelter behind trade barriers, while Macron disagrees. In the U.S., economists forecast a Bureau of Labor Statistics report will show 190,000 jobs were added last month. Signs of stability and growth have kept gold under pressure most of the week, with the metal crashing below its 200-day moving average on Wednesday.

“Optimism about an EU friendly election outcome in France has calmed investors’ nerves,” Georgette Boele, a currency strategist at ABN Amro Bank NV in Amsterdam, said in a note Thursday. “As a result, investment assets that have safe-haven characteristics, such as the yen and gold, have been sold off.”

Source: Bloomberg