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Gold jumps on dollar slide, slow U.S. labor market recovery

· Gold jumped as much as 2.5% on Thursday, rebounding from a near three-week low hit in the last session, as the dollar dipped and a slow recovery in the U.S. labor market reinforced the economic toll from the coronavirus pandemic.

· Spot gold rose 1.9% to $1,954.37 per ounce, having slipped below $1,900 on Wednesday. U.S. gold futures settled up 1.1% to $1,970.40.

· U.S. jobless claims dropped below one million last week for the first time since the start of the pandemic, though at least 28 million people are still receiving unemployment checks, indicating a weak labor market. “The dollar has been quite weak ... this recovery we’ve had (in the labor market) has been the low-hanging fruit. It’s an easy bounce,” said Edward Meir, analyst at ED&F Man Capital Markets.

· “The initial claims are still running at a very high rate, and there is still a long way to go,” Meir said.

· The dollar was down 0.4% against rivals, bolstering gold’s appeal for those holding other currencies, as Washington continues to remain in a stalemate over additional stimulus.

· Adding to the gloomy outlook, Federal Reserve policymakers warned U.S. growth would be muted until the coronavirus was contained.

· Investors are now eyeing a meeting between the United States and China on Aug. 15.

· “The underlying factors in the market have not changed significantly. The fact that gold did not move still higher when Sino-U.S. tensions escalated over the weekend signalled that most of the tailwinds were priced in,” said StoneX analyst Rhona O’Connell in a note.

“Investor sentiment remains robust overall.”

· Elsewhere, silver rose 4.6% to $26.73 per ounce, platinum gained 2.6% to $955.50 and palladium climbed 1.9% to $2,172.68.

· CORONAVIRUS UPDATES:

Global cases: More than 21.07 million

Global deaths: At least 752,763

U.S. cases: More than 5.4 million

U.S. deaths: At least 170,415

· Congress leaves town without passing a coronavirus aid bill

Both chambers of Congress have wrapped up their work for the month, unless negotiators can reach an elusive deal on another round of coronavirus relief.

An agreement looked far away as the Senate ended its session Thursday afternoon, six days since Democrats and the White House last held talks. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Democrats and Republicans are “miles apart in our values.”

The speaker has said she will not restart discussions until the Trump administration agrees to double the $1 trillion cost of its coronavirus relief proposal. She spoke to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on Wednesday, and he again said the White House would not put a $2 trillion proposal on the table.

· U.S. weekly jobless claims fall to 963,000, first time below 1 million since mid-March

First-time claims for unemployment insurance last week fell below 1 million for the first time since March 21 in a sign that the labor market is continuing its recovery from the coronavirus pandemic.

The total claims of 963,000 for the week ended Aug. 8 were well below the estimate of 1.1 million from economists surveyed by Dow Jones. That represented a decline of 228,000 from the previous week’s total.

Jobless claims had totaled above 1 million for 20 consecutive weeks as the U.S. economy went into lockdown to contain Covid-19. The last time the total was below that number was March 14, with 282,000, just as the pandemic declaration first hit.

While the sub-1 million reading marks a milestone, there’s still plenty of work to do for the job market to get back to normal. Those collecting benefits for at least two weeks, known as continuing claims, totaled nearly15.5 million, a decrease of 604,000 from a week ago, but still well above pre-pandemic levels.

· Philippine President Duterte may be injected with Russia’s coronavirus vaccine by next May

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte may be injected with Russia’s coronavirus vaccine as early as May 2021,

according to the government’s official newswire, which quoted the presidential spokesman on Thursday.

Earlier this week, Duterte volunteered to participate in trials for the Russian vaccine, even as scientists and health experts questioned the safety and effectiveness of the drug.

The Philippines is among a handful of countries that will take part in a more extensive “phase three” trial for the vaccine.

· WHO warns against coronavirus ‘vaccine nationalism and risk of price gouging’

High demand for a safe and effective vaccine against the coronavirus is already causing competition between countries and could drive prices higher, the World Health Organization’s top official warned Thursday.

“When a successful new vaccine is found, there will be greater demand than there is supply. Excess demand and competition for supply is already creating vaccine nationalism and risk of price gouging,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said during a press conference from the United Nations agency’s Geneva headquarters. “This is the kind of market failure that only global solidarity, public sector investment and engagement can solve.”