Haven gold jumped Friday, boosted by fresh signs of cracks for global stock markets, led by China and as some caution crept in ahead of key U.S. jobs data.
April gold GCJ9, +0.56% was up $7.10, or 0.5%, at $1,293.20 an ounce after a marginal decline in the previous session. After a back-and-forth week, including the lowest settlement on Tuesday since late January, the contract is headed toward little change on a weekly basis.
May silver SIK9, +0.57% rose 7 cents, or 0.5%, to $15.115 an ounce. It’s headed for a 0.9% weekly drop.
Tumbling 4.4%, Chinese stocks logged their worst one-day percentage drop since October on Friday, after the nation reported a 20% drop in February exports on the heels of a 9.1% gain in January. Officials attributed the plunge to sagging demand and some distortions from the Lunar New Year holiday. But economists said that even if those two months are added together, the data looked weak.
China’s news adds to concerns about global growth. Investors are still reeling from a more dovish-than-expected European Central Bank, which announced new measures to support a slowing economy on Thursday. That included fresh long-term loans to European financial institutions and a surprise pledge to hold off on any interest-rate increases until at least the end of the year. Other data on Friday showed German manufacturing orders fell sharply in January, though December data was revised upward.
Gold futures finished lower on Thursday as the European Central Bank slashed its forecast for eurozone growth and extended a pledge to hold off on interest-rate hikes until at least late this year, pressuring the euro and providing a boost to the U.S. dollar.
The euro EURUSD, +0.2501% fell to four-month lows after the ECB said its ultralow interest rates wouldn’t rise at least until late 2019. Weakness in the currency led to a stronger U.S. dollar, which often weighs on dollar-denominated prices of gold.
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Investors are also bracing for U.S. jobs data Friday, with February nonfarm payrolls due at 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time, alongside the unemployment rate and average hourly earnings. Economists polled by MarketWatch are forecasting the creation of 178,000 new jobs, and a downward revision for January’s 304,000 spike.
And uncertainty was lingering over a U.S.-China trade deal. Washington and Beijing have yet to set a date for a summit to resolve their trade dispute, the U.S. ambassador to China, Terry Branstad, said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal.
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