Gold hits 7-month low but ends up on day, with weekly loss

Investing.com - Gold hit seven-month lows Friday before rebounding to finish the day higher and the week lower. Since October began, it had been a torrid time for the yellow metal, with the potential for the Federal Reserve to hike rates again amplified by US jobs data which sent Treasury yields and the dollar rallying. 

Gold’s most-active futures contract on New York’s Comex, December, settled Friday's trading up $13.40, or 0.7%, at $1845.2 an ounce.  It hit a seven-month low of $1,823.55 earlier.

The spot price of gold, more closely watched by some traders than futures, was at $1,831.70 by 15:00 ET (19:00 GMT), up $11.44, or 0.6%, on the day. Spot gold hit a 7-month low of $1,810.47 earlier in the day.

 On a weekly basis, both Comex gold and the spot price fell, responding to this month's heightened selloff in bonds and rally in the dollar.

December gold, which fell 3.1% last week, fell a further 1.1% this week.

Spot gold could reach $1,750 support as central banks waiting to accumulate bullion there

Spot gold lost 4% last week, the most since a near 6% plunge during the week to June 11, 2021. It slid almost 1% this week.

“I think the bears will eventually push the spot price to $1,700 territory as global central banks are waiting to accumulate big chunks of gold at between the support levels of $1,760 to $1,750,” said Sunil Kumar Dixit, a technical analyst for gold at SKCharting.com.

“The rampant US jobs growth for September didn’t immediately bring the new wave of selling expected in gold, but I think whatever rebound you’re seeing now won’t last.”

The US Labor Department reported 336,000 new non-farm payrolls for September, the highest since January’s 517,000, and way above the 187,000 seen in August and the average 170,000 forecast for last month by Wall Street economists.

“This is a problem as it validates the recent move up in Treasury yields,” economist Adam Button wrote on the ForexLive forum.

The US Dollar Index, which pits the greenback against six other currencies, hovered at just under 106.4, up on the day, but off from the 11-month high of 107.35 earlier this week.

Yields, benchmarked against the U.S. 10-year Treasury note, reached a new 16-year high of 4.892.