LONDON: Gold prices held near $ 1,720 an ounce as stock markets climbed, indicating better appetite for assets seen as higher risk, while investors focused on US employment data due today for clues on monetary policy.
US stocks rose at the open, while European shares were bolstered by a well received earnings report from Royal Dutch Shell. The dollar also surrendered gains against a currency basket after jobless claims data beat expectations.
Spot gold was at $ 1,719.19 at 1447 GMT, little changed from the previous session, while US gold futures for December were up 90 cents at $ 1,720.
Gold prices rallied to nearly $ 1,800 an ounce in early October after the Federal Reserve announced new monetary stimulus measures, which tend to help gold by fueling fears of inflation and maintaining pressure on interest rates.
It has also benefited from fears that the United States could be facing a ‘fiscal cliff’ if lawmakers fail to avert looming tax hikes and cuts to public spending, which are due to kick in at the start of next year.
“Before the elections on Tuesday, the non-farm payrolls will be quite a big deal,” Natixis analyst Bernard Dahdah said. “(Further out), we have the fiscal cliff in the next two months. If you have more issues with that, that will definitely send the price of gold higher.”
With the extent of the Fed’s latest stimulus measures largely dependent on the health of the US labor market, today’s non-farm payrolls data will be closely watched.
Analysts in a Reuters poll expected the economy to have added 125,000 jobs last month, with the unemployment rate seen at 7.9 percent, against 7.8 percent the previous month.
Among other commodities, prices of industrial metals such as copper benefited from a report from China’s National Bureau of Statistics showing its October Purchasing Managers’ Index had risen to 50.2 from 49.8 in September.
Gold price holds near $ 1,720
