The gold price was flat during Asian trading hours on Thursday as investors waited for employment data from the US and with China away on September 3-5 in celebration of the allied victory over Japan in World War II.
Spot gold was last at $1,132.8/1,133.2 per ounce, unchanged from Wednesday’s close. Trading ranged from $1,131.5-1,134 so far.
There is a lack of direction in the market with Chinese stock and commodities markets closed for the holidays and other Asian bourses posting only slight gains so far in the morning despite an overnight rebound in US and European equities.
The Japan Nikkei stock average is up 1.41 percent, the Korean KOSPI index has risen by 0.23 percent, while the Singapore Straits Times Index increased 0.78 percent so far on Thursday morning.
The spot gold price had edged lower during UK trading session overnight on a stronger dollar, rebound in equities and after US employment data out on Wednesday was in line with expectations.
“Gold fell the most in a week as the ADP employment report was broadly in line with expectations and the Fed’s Beige Book struck a positive tone. The focus is going to remain on the US payrolls report due Friday for more clues on whether growth is strong enough to sustain higher US interest rates,” said ANZ Research in a Thursday morning note.
The US ADP non-farm employment released on Wednesday showed that 190,000 jobs were added last month. The figure is the strongest since June, but is down year-over-year for the seventh straight month.
In other data, various services PMI from EU countries – including those from Spain, Italy, France and Germany will be out later on Thursday. Trade balance, unemployment claims and ISM non-manufacturing PMI from the US are also due on Thursday.
In other precious metals, silver rose $0.03 to $14.66/14.71 per ounce. Platinum was unchanged at $1,009/1,014, while palladium fell $2 to $577/582 so far on Thursday morning.
The Shanghai Futures Exchange is closed for the holidays and trading will resume on September 7. Gold for December delivery had closed at 236.60 yuan per gram, and December silver at 3,324 yuan per kilogram on Wednesday. Both were unchanged from their previous closes.
The post Gold flat amid wait for US payrolls data appeared first on The Bullion Desk.
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