Gold, Silver Prices A Bit Weaker After Upbeat US Jobs Data
New York (July 6) Gold and silver prices are slightly lower in early U.S. trading Friday. The just-released U.S. jobs report was deemed upbeat, but precious metals prices saw little reaction to the news and saw their mild overnight losses maintained. August gold futures were last down $1.90 an ounce at $1,257.00. July Comex silver was last down $0.022 at $16.075 an ounce.
The closely followed U.S. employment report from the Labor Department saw June non-farm payrolls come in at up 213,000, which was higher than the consensus forecast of up 195,000. The April and May non-farm jobs numbers were also revised upwards by a net 37,000. However, the overall unemployment rate rose to 4.0% in June from 3.8% in May, mainly due to more would-be workers entering the job market. The closely watched average hourly earnings figure for June rose by 5 cents, to $26.98. Wages in the period rose by 2.7%, on an annual basis. Overall, this jobs report falls into the camp of the U.S. monetary policy hawks, who want the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates at a faster pace. The markets showed little significant reaction to today’s report.
World stock markets were mostly higher overnight. U.S. stock indexes are pointed toward narrowly mixed openings when the New York day session begins.
The U.S. and China remain headed for a full-blown trade war. Both nations on Friday put into effect their already-announced trade sanctions against each other. China today said the U.S. has launched the biggest trade war in economic history. The world marketplace did not react much to this news, as the tit-for-tat moves today were fully expected. However, the Federal Reserve’s FOMC minutes released Thursday afternoon showed committee members are worried about a trade war curtailing U.S. economic growth.
In other news, reports said that Bitcoin today becomes outlawed as a transaction vehicle by India.
The Euro zone got some much-need positive economic news today when German industrial production showed a solid rise of 2.6% in May, from April.
The key “outside markets” today find Nymex crude oil prices weaker and trading around $72.50 a barrel. The U.S. dollar index is also lower as the greenback bulls have faded a bit this week.
Other U.S. economic data due for release Friday includes the international trade in goods and services report.
Reuters
