The price of each ounce of gold for immediate delivery fell by 0.9% to $4,140.60. This precious metal saw a price decrease of about 3.4% over the past week.
Gold Market Fluctuations
The price of each ounce of gold in the U.S. futures market closed at $4,162.30, down 1%. The value of the U.S. dollar slightly decreased but recorded weekly growth. Meanwhile, the yield on 10-year and 30-year U.S. Treasury bonds reached its highest level since 2002 on Thursday.
Employment Statistics and Their Impact on Gold
The price of this precious metal increased by more than 1% in early trading on Friday, but fell after the release of U.S. employment statistics, which showed that job growth in the U.S. slowed more than expected in September. According to a report released on Friday by the U.S. Department of Labor, non-farm payrolls in the U.S. increased by 29,000 jobs in September, and the August employment figure was revised downward to show 133,000 new jobs.
Economists had predicted that after the reported growth of 162,000 new jobs for August, employment would have increased by 90,000 in the previous month. Han Tan, senior market analyst at the Bybit exchange, said: Investors in gold may be acting cautiously for now, as the Federal Reserve still maintains a relatively hawkish stance on inflation.
Gold Market Outlook
The price of gold has fallen by more than 20% since the beginning of the military aggression by the U.S. and the Israeli regime against Iran in late February. Concerns about rising inflation due to the conflicts have increased the likelihood of interest rates remaining high for a longer period. On the other hand, the release of weaker-than-expected inflation data and the opposition of at least two senior Federal Reserve officials to another interest rate hike in October have strengthened investors' expectations for interest rates to remain unchanged at this month's meeting.
According to the CME FedWatch Tool, traders now predict a 22% chance of a U.S. interest rate hike in October, whereas early last week, this probability was 70%. Edward Moyer, an analyst at Markets, said: The chart outlook for gold remains weak, and if the trend of interest rate hikes resumes, there is a possibility of further declines in gold prices.
In the market for other precious metals, the price of each ounce of silver fell by 0.8% to $60.36. The price of each ounce of palladium decreased by 0.5% to $1,165.75, and each ounce of platinum fell by 0.2% to $1,692.90. All three precious metals experienced weekly price declines.
