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On Monday, the precious yellow metal gold futures’ prices had taken a tattering header of more than 2 per cent, falling to a roughly four-month low, as the US Labour Department’s monthly JOLTS data, a critical indicator to labour market, had reported that US Job openings had soared to a record 10.1 million in June, dampening a safe-haven appeal for the bullion despite a clattering slowdown in Asia brewing over the horizon.
On top of that, followed by the US Labour Department’s JOLTS report, American Dollar had jumped against most emerging and major currencies, adding further strains on the bullion’s outlook. Aside from that, having been caught in the crosshair of a sharp downward spiral in gold futures’ prices, silver contracts had been scalped to their lowest level in more than eight months to $22.50 an ounce earlier in the day.
Concomitantly, the gold futures had slipped briefly below a $1,700-level earlier in the Asian trading hours, however, had recouped some of the losses later in the day. Among other fundamentals that catalysed the bullion’s losses, two Fed officials, Atlanta Fed’s Bostic and Richmond’s Barkin, had stressed followed by the JOLTS report that the US economy had been witnessing a torrential high-tide with further rooms for improvement in labour market, bolstering cases of an earlier-than-anticipated rate-hike alongside a tapering of fiscal support as early as by next month.
On a technical viewpoint, both gold and silver contracts could recover their safe-haven appeals following a tapering of the US Fed’s monthly $120 billion bond repurchase program, while a sky-scrapping increase in inflation indicators could add to a bullish wind for gold futures’ prices in a medium- to longer-term outlook, suggested analysts.
Gold extends losses amid Fed taper talks
Citing statistics, in the day’s commodity market wind-down, spot gold prices pummelled 2.1 per cent to $1,725.96 an ounce, while US gold futures’ prices dipped 2.1 per cent to $1,726.50 an ounce.
Among other precious metals, platinum contracts curbed 0.4 per cent to $976.13 an ounce after having been jolted to their lowest level since November earlier in the session, while palladium shed 0.9 per cent to $2,602.66.
Meanwhile, referring to an exaggerated market response to US Labour Department’s JOLTS report, a High Ridge analyst Meger said, “While the job numbers were strong, if in subsequent reports we don’t see quite the same exceptional growth or jobs increase, and some type of more transitory effect in inflation, it will confirm the fact that this was clearly an overdone move in gold”.