Gold On Defensive After Strong Jobs Report But Still Higher For The Week So Far

Gold futures slid Friday as the dollar strengthened in the wake of a much stronger-than-forecast report on U.S. nonfarm payrolls.

Gold Sells Off in Wake of Strong U.S. Jobs Report

A much-better-than-expected U.S. jobs report pushed gold prices solidly lower in early U.S. trading Friday. February Comex gold was last down $17.10 at $1,190.50 an ounce. Spot gold was last down $15.70 at $1,191.40. March Comex silver last traded dow…

U.S. Economy Creates 321K Jobs In November, Almost 100K Above Expectations

(Kitco News) – The labor market lost some momentum last month as the U.S. Labor Department released a slightly weaker-than-expected nonfarm payrolls report for November.

CME Group Raising Margins For Silver, Copper, Platinum, Palladium

CME Group is raising margins for silver, platinum, palladium and copper futures as of the end of business Friday.
The exchange operator announced the hikes late Thursday, along with changes in margins – mostly increases — for a number of other markets, including electricity, foreign exchange, natural gas, refined energy products, coal and ethanol.
CME Group said the changes are part of “the normal review of market volatility to ensure adequate collateral coverage.” Margins act as collateral to back futures trades.

For the main Comex 5,000-ounce silver contract, the “initial” margin for new speculative accounts will rise to $7,150 from $6,050. The “maintenance” margin for existing speculative positions, as well as all hedge positions, increases to $6,500 from $5,500.

For the main Comex copper contract, the initial margin for new spec positions increases to $3,190 from $2,860. The margin for maintenance of spec positions, plus all hedge ones, rises to $2,900 from $2,600.

Meanwhile, for Nymex palladium, speculators’ initial margin rises to $4,400 from $3,575. The maintenance margin, plus all hedge margins, increases to $4,000 from $3,250.

In platinum, the initial spec margin rises to $2,200 from $1,980. For all hedge positions and maintenance of established spec positions, the margin rises to $2,000 from $1,800.

The full CME group notice can be seen at this link.

Waiting For Labor

In spite of an assist from a strong euro/weaker dollar, which would push gold prices higher, the yellow precious metal Is down today in regular trading.

CORRECTION: Singapore Exchange Outage Had No Effect on ICE

(Kitco News) – On Wednesday, Kitco News erroneously reported a link between the Intercontinental Exchange and the Singapore stock exchange, which experienced a three and half hour delay at the start of the session.

Gold Steady-Weak on Chart Consolidation; U.S. Jobs Report on Deck

Gold prices ended the U.S. day session steady to slightly lower Thursday, on some technical chart consolidation. After an early-morning flurry of activity, gold trading settled down as market watchers began to focus on Friday’s U.S. employment report. February Comex gold was last down $0.50 at $1,208.20 an ounce. Spot gold was last down $0.90 at $1,209.30. March Comex silver last traded up $0.148 at $16.56 an ounce.

Nichols Sees ‘Strong Upward Pressure’ For Gold Whenever Prices Turn Higher

There is potential for a strong upward move in gold whenever the market reverses higher for the longer term, says Jeffrey Nichols, managing director of American Precious Metals Advisors and senior economic adviser to Rosland Capital. The metal has come under pressure on negative sentiment from bullion banks, hedge and commodity-focused funds and other institutional speculators, he says. “At the same time, a very much larger group of gold-market participants – numbering in the millions – have been acquiring huge quantities of physical gold and continue to do so even as bearish speculators drive the metal’s price lower,” Nichols says. “This group includes retail buyers of coins, small bars, and investment-grade jewelry in India, China and even Western markets. It includes Swiss gnomes and Arabian sheikhs, sovereign wealth funds and super-rich family offices, and a number of central banks that are under-weighted in gold and, at the same time, distrustful of the U.S. dollar. What’s more, clients should be cognizant of the fickle short-sightedness of today’s gold bears: They may be here today, pushing prices lower, but they will be gone tomorrow, when it looks like price momentum and their technical trading models have shifted gears from ‘reverse’ to ‘drive.’ Importantly, the accumulation of physical metal by the gold bulls is very long-term in nature and much of these holdings will never come back to the market. This suggests that as the gold market shifts direction, there exists the possibility of surprisingly strong upward pressure on the metal’s price.”

Indian Police Recover More Than 600 Ancient Coins After Investigation

(Kitco News) – India’s latest gold rush continues to expand as newspapers report that more ancient 250-year-old coins have been recovered from a small village in the southern part of the country.

ECB Won’t Buy Gold As Part Of QE Program

(Kitco News) – Mario Draghi, president of the European Central Bank, has confirmed that the central bank will not buy gold as part of its asset-backed purchase program.