Gold Prices Rise, Five-Day Straight Losses Closed

JAKARTA - Gold rose in late trading Friday (Saturday, September 3, WIB) snapping a five-day losing streak driven by a weaker US dollar after the unemployment rate in the United States for August was slightly higher than expected.

The most active gold contract for December delivery on the Comex division of the New York Exchange, jumped 13.30 dollars, or 0.78 percent, to close at 1,722.60 dollars an ounce. For the week of December gold contracts slumped 1.6 percent, registering a third straight weekly decline.

Gold futures were down 16.90 dollars, or 0.98 percent, to 1,709.30 dollars Thursday, after slipping 10.1 dollars, or 0.58 percent, to 1,726.20 dollars on Wednesday. 31/8/2022), and fell 13.4 US dollars, or 0.77 percent, to 1,736.30 US dollars on Tuesday (30/8/2022).

Gold's rebound on Friday (2/9/2022) came after the US Department of Labor reported a slightly higher-than-expected unemployment rate for August in its non-farm payroll (NFP) report, despite citing more new jobs for month than economists had expected.

The US Labor Department's non-farm payrolls report showed the United States added 315,000 new jobs in August, higher than market expectations. And the unemployment rate rose to 3.7 percent in August from 3.5 percent in July, also higher than market expectations.

"Gold breathed a sigh of relief after the August jobs numbers helped it close above the support previously breached $1,700," said Craig Erlam, analyst at online trading platform OANDA.

Nevertheless, he noted that as far as the Fed is concerned seeking to place a 75 basis point rate hike at its September meeting, it will continue to put pressure on gold.

Meanwhile, the US Commerce Department reported Friday that US factory orders fell 1.0 percent in July after increasing 1.8 percent in June, providing additional support for gold.

Another precious metal, silver for December delivery rose 21.5 cents, or 1.22 percent, to close at 17.881 dollars an ounce. Platinum for October delivery rose 12.8 dollars, or 1.59 percent, to close at 818.3 dollars an ounce.