Gold surges on this morning’s disappointing jobs report. The yellow metal was already headed for the best week in five months on lower dollar and treasury yields.
Gold jumped over $16 an ounce on the when non-farm payrolls came in up 266,000, rather than the expected 1,000,000. The unemployment rate was also disappointing as it rose to 6.1% amid an escalating shortage of available workers. Analysts had expected an unemployment rate of 5.8%.
Front-month gold futures rose 1.8% Thursday to settle at $1,815.70 an ounce on Comex, and the July contract is up 2.7% so far this week. Futures advanced 3% in April after dropping in January, February and March. Gold climbed $372 — or 24% — in 2020 because of uncertainty about the economy and the pandemic. The June contract is up $17.10 an ounce to $1,833.40 and the DG spot price is $1,829.40.
Other assets also experienced a surge, with the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index closing near highs on Thursday. Copper, an industrial metal, soared to a record high amid expectations that new economic growth will boost global demand.
Front-month silver futures gained 3.6% Thursday to settle at $27.48 an ounce on Comex. The July contract advanced 6.2% in the first four days of the week, heading for its best week in three months. Silver rose 5.5% in April after dropping in February and March. It increased 47% in 2020. The July contract is currently up $0.018 an ounce to $27.495 and the DG spot price is $27.23.
The latest weekly jobs report — for last week — Thursday showed U.S. jobless claims dropped to a 13-month low as the economy continues to bounce back from pandemic-induced shutdowns. But if the economic situation gets too rosy, it may spur monetary policymakers to raise interest rates and pressure the yellow metal.
In other economic news, U.S. productivity rose at a 5.4% annual rate in the first quarter, beating analysts’ expectations, after a sharp, COVID-related decline in the previous quarter. Meanwhile, the latest trade data from China showed exports were well above expectations and imports grew at the fastest pace since 2011.
Meanwhile, India reported a record-high daily death toll Thursday from COVID-19 on Thursday and a single-day record in deaths as the nation battles its second wave of infection.
The COVID-19 virus has killed almost 3.23 million people worldwide and sickened almost 156.1 million. About 21% of the cases — and 18% of the deaths — are in the U.S. The country has about 32.6 million cases, more than any other nation, though its proportion of both new cases and deaths has been declining as the vaccination effort becomes more widespread and other parts of the world have outbreaks.
Spot palladium lost 1.3% Thursday to $2,955.50 an ounce and is down 0.4% so far this week. The metal jumped 12% last month amid strong industrial demand. Palladium also rose in February and March. It rallied 26% in 2020. The DG spot price is currently down $61.40 an ounce to $2,902.00
Spot platinum added 2.2% Thursday to $1,261.10 an ounce and is up 4.6% so far this week. Platinum increased 0.8% in April after trading flat in March. The autocatalyst metal rose 11% in 2020. Currently, the DG spot price is down $9.90 an ounce to $1,250.50.
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