Investing.com - Stellar U.S. jobs growth for October and high-level progress apparently in China-U.S. trade talks whetted investors’ appetite for risk on Friday and weakened their inclination to hold safe havens. Yet gold held to its $1,500 perch, proving few were willing to abandon the yellow metal.
Gold futures for December delivery on COMEX settled down $3.40, or 0.2%, at $1,511.40 per ounce. It rose 1.2% in the previous session on reports of renewed troubles in U.S.-China negotiations. But it was back in the green lane in post-settlement trade, rising a modest 15 cents to $1,514.95 by 2:45 PM ET (18:45 GMT).
Spot gold, which tracks live trades in bullion, was up 8 cents at $1,512.70.
Gold’s resilience above the $1,500 level surprised some market participants who had expected the yellow metal to tumble sharply after the Federal Reserve all but indicated an end to further rate cuts after Wednesday’s third 25-basis-point reduction since July.
TD Securities, however, said in a note that many investors still needed a hedge against stock market risks and the potential for rate cuts continuing in 2020.
“It is likely the majority of investors have opted to hold onto their precious metal exposure as increased data dependency and persistent inflation weakness leaves the door open for further cuts into 2020,” the brokerage said.
“As the outlook becomes more data dependent moving forward, we expect the yellow metal to be fairly volatile on either side of $1,500/oz, until a trend of weaker data sparks further cuts in 2020,” it added.
Gold prices initially dipped after the U.S. Labor Department reported that nonfarm payrolls rose by 128,000 in October, compared with expectations for a rise of 89,000 according to forecasts compiled by Investing.com. September's hiring was revised up to 180,000 from an initially-reported 136,000.
Wall Street's S&P 500 index hit record intraday and closing highs on the jobs report, tamping down the play in safe havens .
The risk rally was also heightened later by a government statement out of China that Beijing had reached consensus with the U.S. in principle on issues related to a trade deal the two sides were negotiating.
China's Vice Premier Liu He had a phone call with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on Friday where the two sides conducted “serious and constructive” discussions on “core” trade points, while discussing arrangements on the next consultation, the statement said.
For the week, the December gold contract was up 0.5%.