Investing.com - Gold prices gained in Asia on Monday after North Korea at the weekend claimed to have tested a hydrogen bomb, raising regionald global tension on concerns of a military conflict that could involve Japan, South Kore, the United States and China.
Gold futures for December delivery on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange rose 0.74% to 1,340.26 a troy ounce. Investors are keeping an eye on a U.N. Security Council meeting later on Monday for a new set of sanctions on Pyongyang and a possible sterner stance by erstwhile ally China.
Last week, gold prices remained close to nine-and-a-half-month highs on Friday, shrugging off a rebound in the dollar, as a weak nonfarm payrolls report fuelled demand for the precious metal.
Gold pared some its gains, following its move to a nine-and-half-month high, as market participants downplayed the impact weak job and wage growth in August could have on the Federal Reserve’s plans to hike rates later this year.
The U.S. economy created 156,000 jobs in August, missing consensus estimates for the creation of 180,000 jobs.
The jobless rate unexpectedly rose in August to 4.4% while average hourly earnings fell short of expectations, slowing to 0.1% from 0.3% in the prior month.
“The headline number was weaker than the consensus, but not weak enough to change the Fed’s stance on rates. Also, August is notorious for statisticians to get it right and numbers are usually revised higher afterward. Investors take it with a grain of salt,” said Omer Esiner, chief market analyst at Commonwealth Foreign Exchange.
Gold is sensitive to moves lower in both bond yields and the U.S. dollar – A lower dollar makes gold cheaper for holders of foreign currency while a fall in U.S. rates, reduce the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding assets such as bullion.
Gold prices have spiked higher in recent weeks as ongoing geopolitical tensions in the Korean peninsula continued to fuel safe-haven demand.
Net bullish bets on gold rose to 208,004, the highest in nine-months, according to a report from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) released last week.