Gold rose for a third straight day, posting its biggest weekly increase since November last year, after a report showed a surprise slowdown in US job growth, supporting the case for continued economic stimulus and low interest rates.
Non-farm payroll numbers show that the US added 266,000 jobs last month, compared with the 1 million median estimate of analysts.
Treasury yields sank on the news as risk appetite faded and the US dollar weakened, boosting demand for gold as an alternative asset.
Gold has rebounded after a poor start to the year, when it came under pressure from gains in the US dollar and bond yields. Both drivers have paused for now, while inflation expectations drive higher amid a commodities boom, lifting the metal’s appeal as a hedge.
The jobs numbers reinforce views that monetary tightening remains distant, further helping non-interest-bearing bullion.
The jobs data “is lagging, but suggest that, using last month’s data there was no urgency to change policy, which is price supportive for gold,” UBS Group AG analyst Giovanni Staunovo said.
Bullion on Thursday surged after several US Federal Reserve officials played down concerns about inflation and pushed back on the idea of tapering bond purchases.
Spot gold rose as much as 1.6 percent to US$1,843.43 an ounce, the highest since mid-February. Prices gained 3.5 percent this week, the most since early November.
Futures for June delivery on the Comex rose 0.9 percent to settle at US$1,831.30 an ounce.
Other commodities:
‧ Spot silver and platinum also advanced. Palladium dropped as much as 4.1 percent as traders booked profit after a price rally that sent the emission-curbing metal to fresh record highs.
‧ China’s appetite sent Brazil soybean exports to a record high last month, as the Asian nation works to feed its growing hog population.
Brazil shipped 12.6 million tonnes to China last month, a 19% jump from a year earlier, Brazilian Ministry of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade data showed.
The volume shipped to all destinations also hit a record, surpassing the previous high by 2.5 million tonnes.
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