The price of gold futures continued to decline. Most recently, it fell over $20, breaking through today’s $1,840 level. under the pressure of the dollar’s appreciation which will reduce the attractiveness of gold Making gold contracts more expensive for holders of other currencies.
At 22:20 Thai time, the COMEX (Commodity Exchange) gold contract is delivered in February. minus $21.10 or 1.14% to $1,837.91/ounce
Furthermore, gold prices were also under pressure. amid concerns that a strong US labor market will be a factor in accelerating the Federal Reserve’s (Fed) interest rate hike.
The Labor Department said initial jobless claims fell by 19,000 to a seasonally adjusted 204,000 last week. which is the lowest level since September and below analyst expectations by 225,000.
The number of Americans still filing for unemployment benefits dropped from 24,000 to 1.694 million.
Meanwhile, Automatic Data Processing Inc. (ADP) said private sector employment rose by 235,000 in December. This was above analyst expectations of 153,000 jobs from 127,000 in November.
Services added 213,000 jobs in December. While the manufacturing sector added 22,000 jobs.
The number of unemployed is lower than expected. and higher-than-expected private employment numbers Indicates a strong US labor market. This will support the Fed raising interest rates to curb inflation.
Investors are keeping an eye on US nonfarm payrolls data for December. which will be revealed tomorrow As analysts expect The number of employed persons increased by only 200,000 in December. after adding 263,000 jobs in November And the unemployment rate is expected to remain stable at 3.7%.
