Gold futures finished Friday trade slightly lower as financial markets awaited an update on reported progress in trade negotiations between the U.S. and China and as an upbeat reading on jobless benefits claims fueled expectations for a recovery in monthly hiring in a report due Friday morning.
Gold for June delivery GCM9, +0.21% on Comex fell $1, or about 0.1%, to $1,294.30 an ounce, but had touched an intraday low at $1,284.90. Meanwhile, May silver SIK9, +0.30% shed 1.8 cents, or 0.1%, to finish at $15.084 an ounce, trimming a steeper loss earlier that took it to an intrasession nadir at $14.86, FactSet data show.
Check out: Job creation seen rebounding in March after February freeze
Stocks traded mostly higher in U.S. action, with all three benchmarks near records. Meanwhile, the ICE U.S. dollar index DXY, +0.21% was up 0.2%. A firmer U.S. currency can prove a drag on commodities priced in the currency by making them more expensive to users of other currencies, and vice versa. The 10-year Treasury note yield TMUBMUSD10Y, +0.07% was down 1.4 basis points to 2.503%. Gold bulls have said that while global bond yields have bounced back for much of this week, their decline so far this year as global central banks turn more dovish should help set a floor for precious metals.
Speculation in recent days for a breakthrough in U.S.-China trade talks, though with many unknowns still looming, has bolstered appetite for stocks and away from bullion, while the U.S. dollar’s strength helped to depress gold’s value.
Expectations for Washington and Beijing to resolve differences have been cited as a driver of stock-market gains since the end of last year, which had clipped gold’s advance. The Wall Street Journal reported that President Trump may announce plans for a summit with China’s president, Xi Jinping, when he meets the country’s vice premier later Thursday. At the same time, there are reportedly major hurdles to clear over U.S. desires to maintain tariffs on Chinese goods, as a means to ensure Chinese adherence to the deal.
“A higher U.S. dollar index today is a bearish element for the precious metals markets. Also, trader and investor risk appetite remains generally upbeat, as evidenced by rallying world stock markets this week,” said Jim Wyckoff, senior analyst with Kitco.com.
Wyckoff cited a European report issued Thursday showing a downgrade to Italian growth figures, as well as the looming U.S. jobs report on Friday morning, as two catalysts posing potential unknowns to financial markets.
Read: Why a European slowdown poses a bigger risk to the stock market than China trade
Economists surveyed by MarketWatch forecast the U.S. economy added 179,000 jobs last month after a paltry 20,000 increase in nonfarm payrolls in February. Ahead of Friday’s report, weekly jobless benefits claims fell to their lowest level since 1969.
Read: Here’s why investors may be unprepared for a second, ugly jobs report
In other metals trade, June palladium PAM9, +0.49% lost $45.890, or 3.3%, to settle at $1,332.30 an ounce, while July platinum PLN9, -0.13% gained $30.30, or 3.5%, to end at $904.50 an ounce. May copper HGK9, +0.15% slipped 3.85 cents, or 1.3%, to settle at $2.910 a pound.
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