Gold Settles Lower For The Session, Posts Modest Gain In Week

Gold prices drifted lower on Friday, despite data showing U.S. unemployment to have plunged to a historic low in April.

The dollar’s weakness limited gold’s downside. The dollar index, which dropped to 99.46 around mid-morning, edged up slightly after that, but was still down in negative territory at 99.71, trailing previous close by 0.18%.

Gold futures for June ended down $11.90, or about 0.7%, at $1,713.90 an ounce.

Gold futures gained about 0.8% in the week.

Silver futures for July ended up $$0.188, at $15.778 an ounce, while Copper futures for July gained $0.0255 more than 1% to $2.4060 per pound.

Data from the Labor Department showed U.S. non-farm employment plummeted by 20.5 million jobs in April after tumbling by a revised 870,000 jobs in March.

The steep drop in employment was not as bad as feared, however, as economists had expected employment to plunge by 22.0 million jobs compared to the loss of 701,000 jobs originally reported for the previous month.

Traders appeared to be betting on hopes the markets have already factored in the dismal jobs picture, and an economic rebound is bound to happen in the not too distant future as states have begun reopening of their businesses that were shutdown from mid-March due to the coronavirus pandemic.

A report released by the Commerce Department showed wholesale inventories in the U.S. decreased by slightly less than expected in the month of March. The Commerce Department said wholesale inventories slumped by 0.8% in March after falling by 0.7% in February. Economists had expected inventories to tumble by 1%.

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