Gold Lower After Correction to Start the Week

Gold is modestly lower in early U.S. trading Monday, on a mild downside correction following a solid advance last Friday that saw prices hit a two-week high and score a technically bullish weekly high close. February Comex gold was last down $2.50 at $1,081.60 an ounce. March Comex silver was last up $0.017 at $14.545 an ounce.

World stock markets were mostly firmer Monday, following the lead of U.S. equities on Friday. U.S. stocks showed strong gains Friday in the wake of an upbeat U.S. jobs report issued earlier in the day. The U.S. jobs report for November showed the key non-farm payrolls number up 211,000, which was just above expectations. The report is the last big data point before the FOMC meeting occurs on December 16—at which time many expect the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates for the first time in nine years. Friday’s jobs data fell into the camp of those expecting the Fed to hike next week.

Currency markets are still feeling the ramifications of last week’s monetary policy easing by the European Central Bank. The U.S. dollar index dropped sharply and the Euro currency posted solid gains in the immediate aftermath of the ECB move last Thursday, which was deemed as falling short of a more aggressive easing that was expected by European market watchers. ECB President Mario Draghi last Friday did say the ECB is ready to implement more monetary policy stimulus, if needed. The dollar index has regained almost half of its losses suffered last Thursday, while the Euro currency has given back not quite half of its gains seen in the immediate aftermath of the ECB news Thursday.

Via Kitco News

Content is for general information purposes only. It is not investment advice or a solution to buy or sell securities. Opinions are the authors; not necessarily that of OANDA Business Information & Services, Inc. or any of its affiliates, subsidiaries, officers or directors. If you would like to reproduce or redistribute any of the content found on MarketPulse, an award winning forex, commodities and global indices analysis and news site service produced by OANDA Business Information & Services, Inc., please access the RSS feed or contact us at info@marketpulse.com. Visit https://www.marketpulse.com/ to find out more about the beat of the global markets. © 2023 OANDA Business Information & Services Inc.