Gold Holds Its Ground After US Employment Report, Falling Only 1%

Heading into Friday's trading in the gold market, the ominous question was whether the yellow metal's prices would survive another wrecking ball - the US employment report.

While any crystal ball predictions on gold should be treated with skepticism, the performance of both futures on the New York Comex and gold bullion on Friday in the wake of the US non-farm payrolls report for July showed that those long in the game may not yet be crushed. US employers added 528,000 jobs last month, making the Federal Reserve's already difficult task of curbing inflation even more difficult, according to the report, which upset economists' forecasts for a gain of just 250,000 jobs. Still, gold, which typically faces a collapse in any situation that requires the Fed to raise interest rates sharply - and a US jobs report more than twice as strong as forecasts certainly qualifies as one of those situations - has held up relatively well under the circumstances. On the New York Comex, the benchmark gold contract for December delivery fell $15.70, or 0.9%, to $1,780.50 after hitting an intraday low of $1,780.30 - higher than Thursday's low. Comex gold was flat for the week. The spot price of gold bullion, which is more closely followed by some traders than futures, was just below $1,775, down about $17, or almost 1%, on the day. Part of the reason why gold weathered the jobs report was probably because neither the US dollar nor Treasury bond yields - which together are the biggest beneficiaries of any Fed rate hike - rose much on Friday.