London boosted by mining stocks as traders digest crucial US jobs report
Gold futures (GC=F) climbed 0.9% to $5,077.20 a troy ounce, while spot prices rose 0.2% to $5,055.34 at the time of writing.
A batch of US data pointed to a cooling in economic momentum, fuelling expectations that the Federal Reserve could have greater latitude to ease monetary policy. Because gold (GC=F) offers no income, declining yields tend to enhance its appeal relative to interest bearing assets.
“Yields being lower are obviously supportive of gold today… After soft retail sales numbers, there’s the expectation that perhaps, further and deeper rate cuts may be needed more imminently than previously thought,” said Kyle Rodda, senior market analyst at Capital.com.
Markets are now factoring in at least two reductions of 25 basis points in 2026, with June seen as the most likely starting point.
Investors are awaiting January’s non-farm payrolls report, scheduled for release later today after being postponed from last week. Kevin Hassett, director of the National Economic Council, played down concerns about the labour market earlier this week. “One shouldn’t panic,” he told CNBC on Monday. “You should expect slightly smaller job numbers.”
Economists polled expect the US economy to have added 70,000 jobs in January, compared with 50,000 the previous month.
“Moves of more conviction from either gold or the dollar may be reserved until after the NFP release, with US jobs data likely to factor into the Fed’s interest rate trajectory. Any softness in the jobs data for January could help gold’s rebound efforts,” said Tim Waterer, chief analyst at KCM, in a note.
