Gold futures settled flat on Thursday as investors looked ahead to the crucial U.S. non-farm payroll data for the month of September due on Friday.<\/p>\n
The jobs data is in focus as traders look for clues about the Federal Reserve’s future monetary policy moves.<\/p>\n
A strong dollar and higher Treasury yields rendered gold prices movements sluggish.<\/p>\n
The dollar gained in strength as hopes about a policy pivot from the Fed faded on strong ISM services PMI data and the ADP private sector jobs report released on Wednesday and San Francisco Federal Reserve President Mary Daly’s hawkish comments.<\/p>\n
The dollar index climbed to 112.31 around noon before paring some gains. Still, at 112.03, the index remains high above the flat line, gaining about 0.86%.<\/p>\n
Gold futures for December settled at $1,720.80 an ounce, unchanged from the previous close.<\/p>\n
Silver futures for December ended up $0.116 at $20.660 an ounce, while Copper futures for December settled at $3.4460 per pound, down $0.0545 from the previous close.<\/p>\n
Economists currently expect employment to jump by 250,000 jobs in September after surging by 315,000 jobs in August, while the unemployment rate is expected to hold at 3.7%.<\/p>\n
In economic releases today, a report from the Labor Department showed initial jobless claims climbed to 219,000 in the week ended October 1st, an increase of 29,000 from the previous week’s revised level of 190,000. Economists had expected jobless claims to inch up to 200,000 from the 193,000 originally reported for the previous week. <\/p>\n