PRECIOUS-Gold gains as dollar retreats, U.S. jobs report signals slow recovery

Reuters · 02/05/2021 16:54
PRECIOUS-Gold gains as dollar retreats, U.S. jobs report signals slow recovery

Gold set for biggest weekly decline in four weeks

Palladium heads for its best week since Nov. 2020

Recasts, adds analyst comment, updates prices

By Eileen Soreng

- Gold rebounded above the $1,800 psychological level on Friday, helped by a retreat in the dollar and data showing slower-than-expected growth in U.S. employment underpinning the need for additional financial support.

Spot gold XAU= climbed 0.8% to $1,807.21 per ounce by 11:20 a.m. EST (1620 GMT), after falling to its lowest since Dec. 1 on Thursday. U.S. gold futures GCv1 rose 0.9% to $1,807.50.

"Gold continues to primarily take its lead from the dollar and we expect this to remain the case in the coming sessions," said Suki Cooper, analyst at Standard Chartered.

"Beyond the near term, we believe the outlook remains constructive for gold given the fiscal stimulus is likely to result in large U.S. twin deficits."

Making gold cheaper for holders of other currencies, the dollar .DXY retreated 0.4%. USD/

U.S. employment growth rebounded moderately in January and job losses in the prior month were deeper than initially thought. nL1N2KA34D

The U.S. House of Representatives will take up final approval on Friday of a budget measure that would let Democrats push the $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package through Congress.nL1N2KB0UF

Gold is considered a hedge against inflation and currency debasement likely spurred by widespread stimulus.

For the week, however, gold is down 2%, its biggest decline since the week ended Jan. 8, in part due to higher U.S. Treasury yields, because they increase the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding bullion.

As investors shift their focus toward the U.S. economic outlook and eye riskier assets, gold may weaken in the short term, said Lukman Otunuga, senior research analyst at FXTM. .N

Spot silver XAG= gained 1.6% to $26.72 per ounce, but was down 0.6% for the week. Prices have shed over 12% since scaling a multi-year peak of $30.03 on Monday, propelled by a GameStop-style retail frenzy. nL8N2K84DQ nL8N2K84DQ

Palladium XPD= gained 2.2% to $2,331.98, and was headed for its best week since November 2020.

Platinum XPT= rose 1.8% to $1,117.24 and was on track for best week in five.


(Reporting by Eileen Soreng and Shreyansi Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Richard Chang)

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