Gold subdued as solid U.S. jobs data lifts risk sentiment

Friday,   03-Jul-2020   08:58 AM (IST)

Gold edged lower on Friday as strong U.S. jobs data lifted investors' risk appetite, although losses were limited by surging global cases of the novel coronavirus and lingering trade tensions between the United States and China. Spot gold fell 0.1% to $1,773.13 per ounce by 0036 GMT. U.S. gold futures shed 0.3% to $1,785.60. On Wednesday, gold prices touched $1,788.96, their highest since October 2012. U.S. nonfarm payrolls rose by 4.8 million jobs in June, the Labor Department's data showed, the most since the government began keeping records in 1939. Better-than-expected jobs report lifted sentiment in equities, as Asian stocks were set to track a firmer Wall Street session on Friday. Florida reported more than 10,000 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday, the biggest one-day increase in the state on record, a Reuters tally showed. More than 10.76 million people have been infected worldwide so far. Meanwhile, more than 75 members of the U.S. Congress sent a letter to the President Donald Trump urging him to take make a formal determination on whether China's treatment of Muslim Uighurs and other groups constitutes an atrocity. The U.S. State Department also warned top American companies to check their supply chains and ensure they are not doing business with entities linked to alleged human rights abuses against Uighurs in China's Xinjiang province. Gold is often used as a safe store of value during times of political and financial uncertainty. Indicative of sentiment, holdings of SPDR Gold Trust, rose 0.8% to 1,191.47 tonnes on Thursday. Palladium eased 0.1% to $1,898.56 per ounce, while platinum rose 0.1% to $803.91. Silver was steady at $17.90.