• Gold futures slipped for a second session in a row Thursday as investors awaited a read on the pace of inflation from the Friday jobs report.
• Investors will be looking for clues in Friday’s report for the likelihood of a follow-up U.S. interest-rate hike later this year. Although data have been solid, including a 17-year low for the jobless rate and strong corporate earnings, the economy has offered few signs of sustained inflation that might hasten the Federal Reserve’s plan to tighten monetary policy.
• December gold GCZ7, +0.09% settled down $4, or 0.3%, at $1,274.40 an ounce. The contract has fallen since it settled Tuesday at $1,279.40—its highest since June 8.
• Wage-inflation data due out Friday will be of primary importance to investors, said Ira Epstein, managing director at the Linn Group, in an interview.
“The rest of the world is talking about getting out of their easy-money policies but the U.S. is about a year ahead of them,” Epstein said. “Now we’ve raised rates, but we’re not getting the inflation we thought.”
• “The present postures of the dollar index and the euro [which is trading at a 2 ½-year high against the dollar] are bullish for the precious metals markets,” said Jim Wyckoff, senior analyst with Kitco Metals. However, “a quieter geopolitical landscape this week is not benefiting the safe-haven gold market.”
• Record-high U.S. stock markets and general global stock gains have lured investors to riskier assets away from gold, but analysts continue to wonder if stock gains can be supported without the pro-growth pledge, most notably tax reform, from President Donald Trump’s administration. The early outlines of Trump’s agenda were often cited as drivers of assets, including a rise in stocks.
• Back on Comex, September silver SIU7, +0.24% settled down 10 cents, or 0.6%, to $16.63 an ounce, for a third day of declines as it pulled back from one-month highs hit Monday.
Reference: Market Watch
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