Weekly Round-Up: Gold and Silver Up Slightly, Copper and Oil Down

Today, spot gold is up 0.4 percent, at $1,266.45 per ounce, while gold futures for December delivery are sitting at $1,267.20, according to Reuters. 

The yellow metal has had a tumultuous week. Wednesday, after falling to a nearly three-month low, it rose as a weaker dollar and lingering tension regarding Ukraine initiated short covering and bargain hunting.

However, according to Reuters, nonfarm payroll data released today missed projections. The US Labor Department said that in August, nonfarm payrolls increased by 142,000 — the smallest increase in eight months; as a result, many now have a more tempered view of the US economy.

“The higher gold prices are reflecting the expectation the Fed will not immediately raise interest rates after the weak job numbers, but the ceasefire deflated safe-haven appetite somewhat,” the news outlet quotes Alfonso Esparza, senior currency strategist at Toronto-based OANDA, as saying.

Silver is also up slightly, having increased 0.3 percent to hit $19.05 an ounce, as per Reuters.

Meanwhile, weak factory data from China spurred a drop in the copper price early in the week, with three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange closing at $6,942 a tonne, down 0.6 percent, on September 1. Another Reuters article states that the red metal recorded its first monthly loss in four months in August, sinking 1.9 percent.

“The Chinese manufacturing data once again increased speculation that the (world’s) second-biggest economy is slowing down and this has made traders cash in some of their chips,” Naeem Aslam, chief market analyst at Ava Trade, told the news outlet.

Finally, Brent crude for October delivery slipped today to $102 a barrel, falling by nearly $1 late this week after the US dollar was strengthened by a rate cut from the European Central Bank, CNBC reported.

Related reading: 

Gold Price Wanes on Stronger US Dollar, No Reaction to Political Tension

It’s Time to Short Gold: Jeffrey Currie