Traders overcome last Friday's job report
Bullion prices shot higher on Monday, 06 April 2015 supported by Friday's surprisingly weak jobs report. Major markets were closed on Friday as the U.S. reported a far smaller increase in jobs in March than analysts had expected. Gains in the gold and silver markets were tempered when the U.S. stock indexes rallied sharply on Monday, after being under pressure in early trading.
June gold rose $17.70, or 1.5%, to settle at $1,218.60 an ounce.
May silver added 41 cents, or 2.5%, to $17.11 an ounce.
Last Friday's U.S. jobs report for March showed a much-lower-than-expected rise of 126,000 in the key non-farm payrolls number, which had been expected to come in at up 248,000. Most U.S. markets were closed on Friday for the Good Friday holiday. Thus, much of the market reactions to Friday's jobs report were seen on Monday. Most European markets were closed Monday for the Easter holiday.
There are a growing number of traders and market watchers who believe the U.S. Federal Reserve will not be able to raise interest rates in 2015, due to the lackluster growth of the U.S. economy. Friday's jobs numbers bolsters those notions. A less hawkish Fed U.S. monetary policy has in recent years been a major bullish factor for the gold and silver markets.
The U.S. dollar index traded near steady to start the trading week after dropping sharply on Friday in the wake of the employment report. The greenback bulls have faded the past three weeks and there are early technical clues the dollar index has put in a major top. The recent weakness in the U.S. dollar index has also been a bullish underlying element for the precious metals markets.
The other key outside market saw crude oil prices sharply higher on Monday. Reports said Saudi Arabia has raised its official price for its oil on the world market.
In other news, Greece has a big debt payment due to the International Monetary Fund later this week as Greek-EU official debt refinancing talks continuewith reportedly only limited success. Reports Monday said Greece will be able to make this week's debt payment to the IMF.
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