Gold Market Macro Cues: U.S. Jobs Weaken, but Direct Gold Price and Central Bank Buying Data Are Missing

Gold Market Macro Cues: U.S. Jobs Weaken, but Direct Gold Price and Central Bank Buying Data Are Missing

The evidence does not provide spot gold, COMEX gold futures, USD/oz quotes or central bank gold purchase data. Therefore, the article below does not give specific gold price levels or central bank gold purchase volumes; it only compiles information related to macro drivers for gold.

U.S. Employment and the Dollar

U.S. September employment data came in weaker than expected: job gains were 29,000 versus market expectations of 90,000, and the prior months were revised down by a combined 60,000. ABN Amro's Rogier Quaedvlieg called the report mixed but consistent with its base case, and said it eased pressure on the Fed to raise rates in October. ^[6]

With the data weighing on the dollar, EUR/USD rebounded to around 1.1260 on Friday, gaining 0.16% on the day, after hitting an intraday low of 1.1221 earlier in the day. ^[1]

Central Banks and Policy Expectations

The Standard Chartered Global Research team noted that euro area core inflation has only edged up slightly since January, and that higher yields pose downside risks to both growth and inflation; these factors reduce the chances of an October rate hike, and the authors expect the Governing Council to wait for new macroeconomic projections at the December policy meeting. ^[4]

MUFG analysts Lin Li, Michael Wan, Lloyd Chan and Khang Sek Lee highlighted that Asia FX will be driven by the Reserve Bank of India's finely balanced decision on 7 October. ^[3]

Mining Company Developments

On the mining company side, the evidence concerns diamond miner Petra Diamonds, not a gold miner. The company was hit with a $7.5 million UK tax petition, while it is weighing asset sales and working to refinance mounting debt. ^[2]

Other Supply Chain Cues

The U.S. Department of Energy's many new investments have one simple objective: securing the supply chain. ^[5]

> Note: Dates such as 7 October and the October/December policy meetings in the evidence are the original time context; the evidence does not specify a year, nor does it provide direct gold quotes or central bank gold purchase data.