Gold, silver futures settle higher

The most active gold contract for December delivery went up 1 USA dollars, or 0.09 percent, to settle at 1,137.60 dollars per ounce. Non-farm payrolls rose by only 142,000 last month, below economists’ expectations of 203,000.

Gold steadied on Tuesday as the dollar eased after a poor U.S. jobs number last week rattled markets, raising doubts over a Federal Reserve rate rise this year.

Gold had been weighed down all year by expectations the U.S. central bank could soon raise rates and is still down almost 4pc this year.

“No matter how one tries to spin this report…it was a awful report, and it has all but certainly put off any thoughts of an October increase in the fed funds rate and very probably has killed any thoughts of a December move”, Dennis Gartman, editor and publisher of The Gartman Letter, said. In addition, the daily spending habits of Americans were virtually unchanged last month according to Gallup’s U.S. Consumer Spending Measure for September.

“However, other indicators, such as vehicle sales were strong, and we need more evidence on that one before we can come to a conclusion and gold’s support could be short lived”. Silver rallied 5.4 per cent on Friday then extended gains on Monday on technical buying to its highest in almost three months at $US15.71 an ounce, before paring gains to a rise of 2.5 per cent at $US15.62.

Platinum was trading up 1.7pc at $920.74, after hitting a near-seven-year-low of $888 in the previous session.

Markets believe signs of sluggishness in the U.S. economy, along with weakness in China and volatility in financial markets, could prompt the Fed to hold rates.

The metal has been weak in the wake of the VW diesel emissions scandal, exhaust catalysts are big users of platinum, but it gained US$12 to US$920 today.

“Silver has its precious-metals hat and industrial hat on, and both of those are in agreement”, McGhee said. Palladium earlier rose 2.0 per cent to $US710.50 an ounce, its highest since June and rising above its 200-day moving average, boosted by hopes that demand for petrol cars, where the metal is used in catalysts, could increase.