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 0.2%, or $2.70, to $1,782.10 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,
rpse 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.
Investors are waiting for weekly jobless claims data, which 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 1 basis point to 1.42%.
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,
rose 0.3% to $4.262 a pound. January platinum
PLF22,
added 0.5% to $940.10 an ounce and March palladium
PAH22,
fell 1.1% to $1,734 an ounce.
