This post was originally published on this site
Gold prices fell modestly on Thursday, after a volatile few days of trading since the announcement of a new omicron variant of COVID late last week.
The most active February gold contract
GCG22,
GC00,
slipped 0.4%, or $7.60, to $1,776.90 an ounce. The contract rose $7.80, or 0.4%, to settle at $1,784.30 an ounce. Gold has seen about a 0.4% drop for the week so far, according to FactSet.
Silver futures
SIH22,
rose 10 cents, or 0.4% to $22.40 an ounce, following a drop of 48 cents, or 2.1%, at $22.339 an ounce on Tuesday.
“Omicron fears have somewhat subsided late this week and that’s putting some risk appetite back into the marketplace. A slumping crude oil market this week is also a negative for the metals markets,” said Jim Wyckoff, senior analyst at Kitco.com, in a note to clients.
That said, gold has struggled to see much haven benefit from the variant, with the precious metal barely changed this week.
Weekly jobless claims data rose 28,000 to 222,000, partly reversing a big plunge in the prior week that had pushed new jobless claims down to 52-year low. The data come a day ahead of key November nonfarm payrolls. Friday’s jobs data will be closely watched after Fed Chairman Jerome Powell on Tuesday told a Senate Banking hearing that a speeding up of tapering of monthly asset purchases could be warranted amid higher inflation and stronger growth.
The Federal Open Market Committee will meet Dec. 14-15.
Gold softness came as the dollar, as gauged by the ICE U.S. Dollar Index
DXY,
slipped 0.2% to 95.8636. Meanwhile the 10-year Treasury note yields
TMUBMUSD10Y,
slipped 2 basis points to 1.41%.
Changes in the dollar and Treasury yields can influence gold because the metal is priced in U.S. dollars and doesn’t bear any interest.
Among other metals traded on Comex, March copper
HGF22,
slipped modestly to $4.245 a pound. January platinum
PLF22,
fell 0.3% to $932.30 an ounce and March palladium
PAH22,
fell 1.8% to $1,721 an ounce.
