Gold slips on firm dollar, index rebalancing ahead of US jobs data
Shafaq News
Gold fell on Friday as commodity index readjustments and a firm dollar kept the pressure on prices, with investors positioning ahead of crucial U.S. non-farm payrolls data due later in the day.
Spot gold edged 0.2% lower to $4,469.03 per ounce as of 0536 GMT, though it was set for a more than 3% weekly gain. Bullion hit a record high of $4,549.71 on December 26.
U.S. gold futures for February delivery firmed 0.4% to $4,477.70.
"Gold prices, for the last three days, have traded off on some profit-taking, but indeed a key driver at the moment is U.S. dollar strength in advance of NFP data," said independent analyst Ross Norman.
The U.S. dollar advanced to a near one-month high, as traders braced for a U.S. Supreme Court decision on President Donald Trump's use of emergency tariff powers. A stronger dollar makes greenback-priced bullion more expensive for other currency holders.
On non-farm payrolls, economists expect modest job growth of 60,000 and a slight drop in the unemployment rate to 4.5% from 4.6%.
Prices are expected to be under pressure over the next few days as the annual Bloomberg Commodity Index rebalancing - a periodic adjustment of commodity weightings to keep the index aligned with market conditions - begins this week.
"Several indexes are reweighting the amount of precious metals and gold in them at the beginning of the year. So, to some extent, there's a bit of weakness on index rebalancing, but fundamentally I think that things remain quite positive," Norman added.
Gold prices could rise to $5,000 an ounce in the first half of 2026 on rising geopolitical risks and debt, HSBC said.
Non-yielding assets tend to do well in a low-interest-rate environment and during economic uncertainties.
Spot silver lost 0.1% to $76.83 per ounce after hitting an all-time high of $83.62 on December 29. The white metal was on track to log a more than 6% weekly rise.
Spot platinum shed 0.8% to $2,250.30 per ounce after scaling a record of $2,478.50 last Monday. Palladium was steady at $1,785.25 per ounce. Both metals were set for weekly gains as well.
(Reuters)
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