· Gold has slipped as the US dollar regained some ground on the back of strong American jobs data, putting the metal on track for its first weekly loss in five weeks.
Spot gold was down 0.2 per cent at $US1,231.22 per ounce. The bullion was down 0.1 per cent for the week.
US gold futures settled down $US5.30, or 0.43 per cent, at $US1,233.30.
· Wall Street looks for gold prices to rise next week, although many in the weekly Kitco News gold survey also described themselves as neutral at the moment due to uncertainty surrounding U.S. midterm elections on Tuesday.
Main Street remained bullish.
· “Risk-on is back with the possibility of a Trump-China trade deal and a top in the dollar,” Flynn said. “The dollar has shown some reluctance to go higher as rate increases for December are priced in by least 70%.”
· Sean Lusk, director of commercial hedging with Walsh Trading, looks for gold to rise, doubting that many traders would want to be aggressively bearish ahead of U.S. midterm elections. Should Democrats wrest at least one chamber of Congress away from the Republicans, the expectation for a stalemate in Congress could boost gold prices, Lusk explained.
“So much depends on the midterm election results in the U.S.,” said Adrian Day, chairman and chief executive officer of Adrian Day Asset Management. “If Republicans hold House, probably good for the dollar and negative for gold in near term. For now, I'll say unchanged.”
· Peter Hug, global trading director with Kitco Metals, also said the near-term direction of gold may hinge on midterm elections in the U.S.
“If Republicans maintain a majority, I think gold may soften after Tuesday,” Hug said. “If Democrats take the majority, I see gold higher.”
· Kevin Grady, president of Phoenix Futures and Options LLC, is neutral based on the charts.
“Gold seems to be stuck in the $1,213 to $1,246 range,” Grady said. “I would not turn bullish until we break the 38% retracement of $1,253.”
· "Strong data helped the dollar, which put some pressure on gold," said Tai Wong, head of metals trading at BMO.
"The fact that the data is strong despite storm-related disruptions, suggests the economy is humming along strongly and that the Fed will continue to hike interest rates."
The US Federal Reserve has raised interest rates three times this year and is widely expected to raise rates again in December.
· "Given the fact that we had a very strong rally yesterday, we are going to struggle towards the $US1,240-$US1,245 highs off this move unless we get a sustained downward movement on the dollar," Wong said.
· Holdings in SPDR Gold Trust, the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, rose to their highest since late August on Thursday.
· Meanwhile, physical gold demand in India, the second biggest consumer, remained lacklustre this week, with dealers offering discounts for the metal ahead of a traditionally busy festival week for the first time in at least three years, as high prices kept consumers away.
· Among other precious metals, platinum climbed 1.3 per cent to $US868 per ounce, having touched its highest since June 25 at $US870.80 earlier in the session.
· Palladium rose 1.8 per cent to $US1,110 per ounce and silver was down 0.2 per cent at $US14.70 per ounce.
Reference: Kitco, Reuters
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