BULLION LATEST 05/10: Gold flat ahead of US non-farm payrolls report

The spot gold price was quoted at $1,274.40-1274.70 per oz as of 04:06 BST, unchanged from the previous session’s close. Trade has ranged from $1,273.10 -1,275.25 so far today.

• Gold’s gains were muted as traders looked ahead to Friday’s US jobs report, ANZ Research said on Thursday morning.
• The official jobs report on Friday is expected to show the USA adding 82,000 jobs in September, down from 156,000 in August due to disruptions caused by hurricanes in the country.
• The gold price saw some support from political uncertainty as Catalonia plans to declare independence despite a lack of support from Spain and the European Union, but a steadier dollar is also checking the yellow metal’s upside.
• The dollar index halted its decline after the release of strong US economic data on Wednesday. The ADP non-farm employment change in September came in at 135,000, above an expected reading of 131,000, while the ISM non-manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI) for September stood at 59.8, higher than the forecast print of 55.5.
• “The [ISM manufacturing] index is now at its highest since August 2005 and is a sign that the US economy is recovering quickly from hurricane-related disruptions,” National Australia Bank said on Thursday.

Silver, PGMs

• In the other precious metals, the spot silver price was little changed, up just $0.003 to $16.57-16.615 per oz. Platinum increased $2 to $911-916 per oz while palladium was up $2 at $923-928 per oz.
• There is no trading on the Shanghai Futures Exchange as Chinese markets are closed from October 2-6 due to China’s week-long National Day holiday.

Currency moves and data releases

• The dollar index was up 0.03% to 93.51 as of 04:21 BST after reaching as low as 93.26 on Wednesday.
• In other commodities, the Brent crude oil spot price rose 0.25% to $55.87 per barrel as of 04:23 BST.
• In other US data on Wednesday, weekly crude oil inventories declined 6 million barrels, much higher than the expected 500,000-barrel fall.
• Economic data of note today includes US unemployment claims, trade balance and factory orders. The US non-farm payrolls report due on Friday will also be closely watched by investors.
• In addition, US Federal Open Market Committee members Jerome Powell and Patrick Harker are due to speak later.