What’s happening: Gold futures closed lower on Friday, ending a five-session record spike for the bullion.
What happened: Prices for the safe-haven metal have been on an upturn due to investor uncertainties about the economic impact of the pandemic in the long term and weakness in the US dollar.
The greenback rebounded marginally on Friday, supported by the US jobs report coming in slightly better than expected, putting an end to the five-session winning streak.
Why it matters: The US dollar recorded a gain in the previous session, notching its first weekly rise in the last six weeks. The ICE dollar index, which measures the greenback’s performance versus a basket of six major rivals, gained 0.8% on Friday.
The yellow metal slipped on increased risk appetite following an upbeat jobs report from the US. The US Labor Department reported job addition of 1.76 million in July, versus estimates of 1.7 million adds. The US unemployment rate fell to 10.2% in July, from June’s reading of 11.1%.
Investors remained cautious, however, amid continued tensions between the US and China, with President Donald Trump announcing a ban on transactions with Chinese tech companies operating in the country.
Gold futures for December delivery dipped 2% to close at $2,028 an ounce on Friday, following a 1% gain on Thursday. However, the safe-haven metal still recorded gains of 2.1% last week, rising for the ninth successive week.
September silver dropped 3% to settle at $27.540 an ounce in the previous session, after gaining 5.6% on Thursday. The white metal recorded a weekly gain of 13.7%.
In other metals, September copper declined by 4.1% to settle at $2.7925 a pound on Friday, dropping 2.6% for the week. October platinum lost 4.3% to close at $970.40 an ounce, but notched a weekly gain of 5.6%.
What to watch: Investors will be closely monitoring heightening tensions between Washington and Beijing. While political uncertainty boosts the demand for safe-haven investing, the pressure on China could lower demand, as the country is a major buyer of precious metals.