Gold heads for weekly drop as strong dollar, elevated Treasury yields weigh

Kitco Media
By Reuters
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Reuters
Gold heads for weekly drop as strong dollar, elevated Treasury yields weigh teaser image

Oct 2 (Reuters) - Gold prices ​fell on Friday, reversing earlier gains, as a stronger dollar and elevated US Treasury ‌yields weighed on the non-yielding metal, leaving it on track for a weekly decline.

Spot gold fell 0.9% to $4,140.06 per ounce by 02:33 p.m. EDT (1833 GMT), and was down about 3.4% for the week so far. US ​gold futures settled 1% lower at $4,162.30.

The US dollar edged lower, but was headed for ​a weekly gain, while yields on 10- and 30-year Treasuries hit their ⁠highest levels since 2002 on Thursday.

Bullion fell after gaining over 1% earlier in the session after ​data showed US job growth slowed more than expected in September.

US non-farm payrolls rose by 29,000 last ​month after a downwardly revised increase of 133,000 in August, the Labor Department's closely watched employment report showed on Friday. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast payrolls advancing 90,000 after a previously reported 162,000 surge in ​August.

"Gold bugs are perhaps refusing to get carried away for the time being, knowing that the ​Fed retains a hawkish bias," said Han Tan, chief market analyst at Bybit.

"In the months ahead, much of ‌gold's ⁠trajectory will depend on how much the Fed is willing to tolerate potential labor market weakness, with its eyes firmly set on subduing US inflation."

Bullion has fallen over 20% since the US-Israeli war with Iran began in late February, pressured by expectations that conflict-driven inflation could keep ​interest rates higher for ​longer.

The latest softer-than-expected inflation data, ⁠along with opposition from at least two top policymakers to another rate hike in October, have strengthened investor bets that the US Federal Reserve will ​keep rates on hold later this month.

Traders currently see about a ​22% chance of ⁠a US rate hike this month, compared to around 70% earlier in the week, according to the CME FedWatch Tool.

"The charts still look fairly grim and (gold) could push lower still if the rate ⁠cycle ​resumes its ascent," Marex analyst Edward Meir said.
Spot silver fell ​0.8% to $60.36, platinum retreated 2% to $1,692.90 and palladium declined 0.5% to $1,165.75. All three metals were poised for weekly losses.

Reporting by Noel John in Bengaluru; Editing by Diti Pujara, Jonathan Ananda and Nick Zieminski

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