Column: Electric dreams turn into a nightmare for battery metals
A sector that was once racing to build new supply has been closing mines and deferring projects as low prices bite into the cost curve.
Gold continued its steady advance on Friday — en route to its best week since November 2020 as US jobs figures for the month of April fell below expectations, spurring a retreat in both the dollar and US Treasury yields.
Spot gold advanced 0.9% to $1,832.03 per ounce by 1 p.m. ET, having hit a three-month high of 1,842.59 per ounce earlier in day. US gold futures also gained 0.9%, trading at $1,832.30 per ounce on the Comex.
[Click here for an interactive chart of gold prices]
“With the complete miss on the (jobs) number, yields are going to compress and the dollar also fell, allowing gold to shoot up,” Phillip Streible, chief market strategist at Blue Line Futures in Chicago, told Reuters.
However, gold’s rally may be short lived since next month’s jobs data could show a “blow out” number, Streible cautioned.
April’s non-farm payrolls rose by only 266,000 jobs, with employers likely frustrated by labor shortages as the economy reopens.
“This report at least temporarily throws some cold water on notions the Federal Reserve may be forced to raise interest rates much sooner than many expected,” Kitco Metals senior analyst Jim Wyckoff said in a note.
The dollar extended declines on Friday, while US Treasury yields also retreated, lowering the opportunity cost of holding non-interest bearing bullion.
“Gold could push towards $1,857, followed by the $1,925 resistance level,” Edward Moya, senior market analyst at OANDA, wrote in a note.
(With files from Reuters)
