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Gold flat after 4-day drop; US jobs in focus
SINGAPORE - Gold traded little changed on Friday, struggling to recover from a four-day losing streak after the European Central Bank stopped short of offering any immediate aid to contain the region’s debt crisis, while caution prevailed ahead of a key U.S. jobs report.
The euro fell to a one-week low against the dollar after the ECB disappointment, especially after hopes for bold actions were raised by ECB chief Mario Draghi’s vow last week to do everything possible to preserve the single currency.
“Cash is king,” said Dick Poon, manager of precious metals at Heraeus in Hong Kong. “People would rather hold cash than commodities, because they are still worried about what is going to the euro zone and economies elsewhere. The overall sentiment is pretty negative.”
Spot gold was little changed at $1,590.01 an ounce by 0327 GMT, after falling for four consecutive sessions. It was headed for a 2-percent weekly decline, its biggest in more than one month.
U.S. gold futures contract for December delivery inched up 0.2 percent to $1,593.20.
But gold held up relatively well above a support level near $1,580, as Thursday’s U.S. labour and manufacturing data suggested the economy is mired in a soft patch, keeping hopes of further monetary stimulus alive.
Later in the day, the market will closely watch the U.S. non-farm payrolls data, which is likely to show job growth picked up slightly in July, not enough to dent the 8.2 percent unemployment rate.
Signs of worsening economic conditions could tip the scales for the Federal Reserve towards providing another round of quantitative easing, which would help gold attract investors fearing rising inflation outlook as a result of rampant cash-printing by the central bank.
Technical analysis suggested spot gold could break the support level at $1,583 and fall towards $1,572, said Reuters market analyst Wang Tao.
CME cuts silver, platinum, palladium margins
The CME Group plans to cut margins for COMEX silver futures for the third time since February to help boost trading interest, as stagnant prices sapped investor appetite.
Spot silver inched up 0.2 percent to $27.16 an ounce, on course for a weekly fall of nearly 2 percent, its biggest one-week decline since late June.
COMEX silver futures contract for September delivery was up 0.4 percent to $27.11.
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