Hedge funds’ bullish bets on gold jump to four-year high
Hedge funds and other large speculators boosted their net-long position in gold.
Gold prices climbed Friday after the U.S. non-farm payrolls data missed expectations, decreasing fears that the Federal Reserve is set to start paring back its $85 billion monthly bond-buying programme.
The precious metal went up about 2% to a high of $1,392.46 an ounce in the immediate wake of the data, and was up 1.5% at $1,387.66 at 1252 GMT.
The U.S. Labour Department reported the country’s economy added 169,000 jobs in August, below market expectations of about a 175,000 rise. There were also important downward revisions in non-farm payrolls growth in June and July. The overall unemployment rate dropped to 7.3% in August, the lowest since December 2008, and a bit lower than forecasts it would remain steady at 7.4%.
Given upbeat U.S. economic data released this week, analysts were expecting a better jobs growth than the median forecast.
U.S. gold futures for December stood at $1,388.20 an ounce, up $15.20.
