Singapore - Gold headed for its first back-to-back daily drop since the UK’s Brexit vote as investors focus on a US jobs report that’ll shed light on the health of the world’s top economy.
Bullion for immediate delivery fell 0.2 percent to $1 357.24 an ounce by 11:48 a.m. in London, according to Bloomberg generic pricing. It’s still on course for a sixth weekly gain, the longest winning run in two years, after rising to $1 375.28 on Wednesday, the highest since March 2014.
Gold has rallied 28 percent this year, with demand for havens surging after the Brexit vote in June and as traders cut bets on the Federal Reserve increasing interest rates this year. Investors are waiting for Friday’s US non-farm payrolls as Fed officials flagged concern over job creation at their last meeting before the British referendum.
“People are probably on the sidelines a bit this morning until we get the jobs numbers, there has been a lot of volatility in gold this week,” said Simona Gambarini, a commodities economist at Capital Economics in London. “It is really difficult to forecast how gold will react to a deviation.”
Read also: Gold holdings top 2 000 tons
Employers in the US probably added 180 000 workers to non-farm payrolls last month, according to the median of economists’ estimates compiled by Bloomberg. The data comes after a weak 38 000 increase for May that hurt expectations for hikes from the Fed. The Brexit vote also cut the odds for tightening in 2016, with the likelihood of a rise by December at just 12 percent.
Holdings in gold-backed exchange-traded funds dipped 4 metric tons to 1 997.5 tons on Thursday, data compiled by Bloomberg show. The assets surpassed the 2 000 ton level on Wednesday to gain to the highest since July 2013.
Spot silver was up 0.3 percent at $19.7372 an ounce. Platinum fell 0.9 percent to $1 079.89 an ounce. Palladium fell 0.8 percent to $605.80 an ounce.
BLOOMBERG