Gold prices moved a bit higher Friday, adding to their gains for the week after the dollar lost some ground following the most recent reading of the closely watched jobs report.
April gold GCJ7, +0.14% rose $2.40, or 0.2%, to $1,221.80 an ounce. The precious metal touched an intraday low of $1,208.30 earlier after its settlement on Thursday at $1,219.40, marked the best level since mid-November. For the week, prices traded around 2.5% higher.
On Friday, the ICE U.S. Dollar Index DXY, -0.15% inched lower by 0.2%, on track for a weekly loss of 0.9%.
Gold was able to hold its ground in the wake of the stronger-than-expected NFP report. This is “important proof that the bull market in gold has resumed,” Nico Pantelis, head of research at Secular Investor, told MarketWatch.
Looking ahead, “next week’s Fed speakers skew dovish particularly [Chicago Fed President Charles] Evans and [St. Louis Fed President James] Bullard next Thursday, said Cieszynski.
Meanwhile, a report released early Friday from the World Gold Council showed that global investment demand in 2016 jumped by 70% year on year to its highest level in four years.
The WGC attributed the climb, in part, to the uncertain path of future interest-rate increases and the U.S. election.
The SPDR Gold Trust GLD, +0.32% rose 0.2% in the wake of the jobs report, and was set for a weekly gain of 2.3%—rebounding from last week’s 1.4% loss. The iShares Silver Trust SLV, +0.12% added 0.4% and the VanEck Vectors Gold Miners ETF GDX, +0.41% rose 1.1%.
Rounding out action for the Comex metals, March silver SIH7, +0.38% rose 4.1 cents, or 0.3%, to $17.475 an ounce. The white metal was headed toward a roughly 2% weekly gain.
March copper HGH7, -2.57% fell 5.7 cents, or 2.1%, at $2.628 a pound—down about 2.3% for the week, April platinum PLJ7, +0.80% added $2.10, or 0.2%, at $1,001.70 an ounce, lifting its weekly gain to about 1.9%, while March PAH7, -1.13% palladium fell $8.80, or 1.2%, to $750.25 an ounce, but traded up 1.6% on the week.
