Gold declined following a solid US labor report that might strengthen the US Federal Reserve’s case to use aggressive interest-rate hikes to tackle inflation.
The US added close to half a million jobs last month and the unemployment rate fell by more than expected, a US Department of Labor report showed on Friday.
US Treasury yields surged in response and the US dollar gained ground, dampening bullion’s appeal, as it generates no interest and is priced in the greenback.
Photo: Reuters
Gold just notched its best quarter since 2020, driven by concerns that the war in Ukraine and high commodity prices could dent global growth.
However, the rally has recently lost some steam thanks to an increasingly hawkish tone from Fed officials.
Several Wall Street banks have increased their bets on rapid tightening of monetary policy.
Talks between Ukraine and Russia resumed on Friday via video link.
“Another strong jobs report sees gold remain in the crosshairs as Fed pricing provides a constant dark cloud over the precious metal market,” TD Securities commodity strategists led by Bart Melek said in a note.
Central banks are tackling price pressures fueled by a conflict that has disrupted commodity flows. Traders are increasingly on edge about prospects for the loss of Russia’s energy exports, which would further fan inflation.
Spot gold fell 0.7 percent to US$1,924.39 an ounce in New York, down 1.7 percent for the week. Bullion for June delivery slipped 1.6 percent to settle at US$1,923.70 on the COMEX.
Silver declined, while platinum and palladium gained.
In the first quarter, gold rose 5.9 percent, the biggest such jump since the three months ended June 30, 2020.
Meanwhile, Russia boosted wheat shipments by about 60 percent last month, despite that being the first month of its invasion of Ukraine.
The country exported about 1.7 million tonnes last month, data from consultant ProZerno showed.
That compares with 1.1 million tonnes sold in March last year, although those sales were stifled by shifts in Russian government grain-export taxes.
Russia and Ukraine together account for about one-quarter of global grains trade.
Exports from Russia slowed immediately after its February invasion, but since then have bounced back, analysts and data providers have said.
Sales remain tepid out of Ukraine, which is keeping global prices for crops high.
Three experts in the high technology industry have said that US President Donald Trump’s pledge to impose higher tariffs on Taiwanese semiconductors is part of an effort to force Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) to the negotiating table. In a speech to Republicans on Jan. 27, Trump said he intends to impose tariffs on Taiwan to bring chip production to the US. “The incentive is going to be they’re not going to want to pay a 25, 50 or even a 100 percent tax,” he said. Darson Chiu (邱達生), an economics professor at Taichung-based Tunghai University and director-general of
Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) is reportedly making another pass at Nissan Motor Co, as the Japanese automaker's tie-up with Honda Motor Co falls apart. Nissan shares rose as much as 6 percent after Taiwan’s Central News Agency reported that Hon Hai chairman Young Liu (劉揚偉) instructed former Nissan executive Jun Seki to connect with French carmaker Renault SA, which holds about 36 percent of Nissan’s stock. Hon Hai, the Taiwanese iPhone-maker also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), was exploring an investment or buyout of Nissan last year, but backed off in December after the Japanese carmaker penned a deal
‘LEGACY CHIPS’: Chinese companies have dramatically increased mature chip production capacity, but the West’s drive for secure supply chains offers a lifeline for Taiwan When Powerchip Technology Corp (力晶科技) entered a deal with the eastern Chinese city of Hefei in 2015 to set up a new chip foundry, it hoped the move would help provide better access to the promising Chinese market. However, nine years later, that Chinese foundry, Nexchip Semiconductor Corp (合晶集成), has become one of its biggest rivals in the legacy chip space, leveraging steep discounts after Beijing’s localization call forced Powerchip to give up the once-lucrative business making integrated circuits for Chinese flat panels. Nexchip is among Chinese foundries quickly winning market share in the crucial US$56.3 billion industry of so-called legacy
WASHINGTON POLICY: Tariffs of 10 percent or more and other new costs are tipped to hit shipments of small parcels, cutting export growth by 1.3 percentage points The decision by US President Donald Trump to ban Chinese companies from using a US tariff loophole would hit tens of billions of dollars of trade and reduce China’s economic growth this year, according to new estimates by economists at Nomura Holdings Inc. According to Nomura’s estimates, last year companies such as Shein (希音) and PDD Holdings Inc’s (拼多多控股) Temu shipped US$46 billion of small parcels to the US to take advantage of the rule that allows items with a declared value under US$800 to enter the US tariff-free. Tariffs of 10 percent or more and other new costs would slash such
RSS