Gold futures prices ended trading higher on Monday, on the back of the decline in the value of the dollar and the yield on US bonds.
The yellow metal prices exceeded the weak performance in the beginning of trading, as fears about economic recession eased, thanks to the strong jobs data published last Friday, which reinforced expectations that the US Federal Reserve (the central bank) will continue to tighten monetary policy.
The dollar value index fell against other major currencies today to 106.08 points, before improving slightly to 106.30 points, to remain almost 0.3% lower than its level on Friday at the end of the last trading week. The yield on US 10-year Treasury bonds also fell to 2.77 percent.
Gold finished today’s trading with a rise of $14, or 0.8 percent, to $1805.20 an ounce for delivery in December.
The price of silver rose by 0.772 dollars to 20.614 dollars an ounce for delivery next September. The price of copper rose by 0.0345 dollars to 3.5865 dollars per pound for delivery next September.
The data of the US Department of Labor released last Friday showed that the US economy added a number of new jobs more than double expectations during the past month, which indicates the continuation of strong demand for labor, and allays fears of a recession in the US economy, and indicates that the Federal Reserve (the Bank The US central bank will continue to raise interest rates to curb inflation.
The Department of Labor said that the number of jobs in America rose last month by 528,000 jobs, the largest increase in five months, and more than all analysts’ estimates.
During the previous month, employers created 398,000 new jobs. The unemployment rate in the United States also fell last month to 3.5 percent, its lowest level in 5 decades. Wage growth also accelerated.
The median forecast of analysts was that the number of new jobs would grow by 250,000 jobs last month, with the unemployment rate expected to remain at 3.6 percent.
The number of jobs has increased and the unemployment rate has fallen to its levels in February 2020, i.e. at pre-coronavirus levels.