• Gold futures on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange rose on Friday, as the dollar came under pressure from a U.S. payrolls report that flagged up weak wage growth last month, weakening the case for near-term interest rate hikes.
• The most active gold contract for March delivery rose 1.4 U.S. dollars, or 0.11 percent, to settle at 1,220.80 dollars per ounce.
• As of Friday, traders were still in the process of adjusting their positions in the wake of the February Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting. Investors believe the Fed may raise rates from 0.75 to 1.00 during the May FOMC meeting at the earliest.
• According to the CME Group's Fedwatch tool, the current implied probability of a hike from 0.50 to at least 0.75 is at 13 percent at the March meeting and 36 percent for the May meeting. Rate futures have instead priced in a June hike, with a probability of more than 60 percent.
• "Markets seem to be looking at the soft wage data, which signal rather weak inflationary pressure, and therefore less need for the Fed to raise interest rates," Commerzbank analyst Carsten Fritsch said.
• Silver for March delivery rose 5 cents, or 0.29 percent, to close at 17.479 dollars per ounce.
• India’s total gold demand fell to a seven-year low in 2016 as stringent government regulations, jewellers strike, higher prices and cash crunch on account of demonetisation impacted sentiments.
• According to World Gold Council (WGC), the total gold demand in 2016 fell to 675.5 tonnes, down 21.19 per cent from 857.2 tonnes in 2015.
Reference: Xinhua, Asianage
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