|

Gold prices up, jobs lower than expected

Gold prices edged up on Friday, poised for a weekly gain on safe-haven inflows and a U.S. jobs report revealing lower than expected job growth in February, suggesting the Federal Reserve is on track to cut interest rates this year.

Spot gold added 0.3% to $2,918.11 an ounce as of 09:24 (1424 GMT). Bullion has gained over 2% so far this week, as U.S. President Donald Trump’s ever-shifting tariff policies fanned uncertainty.

“Weaker than expected number is giving gold a slight boost… also a weaker dollar for the week right now is helping,” said Bob Haberkorn, senior market strategist at RJO Futures.

Spot silver fell 1% to $32.28 an ounce and platinum shed 0.1% to $965.58, while palladium edged 0.5% up to $946.

Source – Reuters

Similar Posts

  • /

    Mining firm Freeport-McMoRan jumps 4%

    “American industries depend on copper, and it should be made in America, no exemptions, no exceptions,” Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said. “It’s time for copper to come home.”

    But while the tariffs could be positive for the domestic metals sector, implemented copper tariffs could amplify costs across several segments of the economy. Copper has a broad range of uses, and its cost is an input in the price of everything from electronics to construction materials.

    Trump’s tariff probe sparked a surge in copper futures, which rose 1.76% Wednesday morning.

    Source – Markets Insider

  • /

    Silver expected to rise in demand

    The precious metal has gained nearly 12% in the year-to-date and is set to benefit from continued macroeconomic and geopolitical uncertainty, alongside potential U.S. interest rate cuts, according to the industry body’s World Silver Survey 2025.

    “While ongoing uncertainties elsewhere, along with silver’s healthy supply-demand conditions, will offer support, we do see prices easing back in late 2025.”

    Supply is expected to rise by just 2% and demand to ease by only 1%, setting the stage for a 117.6 million ounce deficit.

    “We very much expect such a dynamic will emerge eventually, but we feel that a few more years of deficits are needed first to further erode above-ground silver inventories.”

    Source – Market Watch

  • /

    Ghana gold output to increase

    Ghana’s gold production could increase by around 6.25% to approximately 5.1 million ounces in 2025, up from last year’s record output of 4.8 million ounces, the Chamber of Mines in Africa’s top gold-producing nation said on Friday.

    “We project gold output to range between 4.4 and 5.1 million ounces, buoyed by increased contributions from Newmont’s Ahafo South Mine and Shandong’s Namdini Mine,” Chamber of Mines President Michael Akafia said at an annual gathering in the capital Accra.

    “We’re looking at about 30% to 40% more production than the previous year,” the general secretary of the group, Godwin Armah, told Reuters.

    Source – Reuters

  • /

    Copper at record high $11,633 a ton

    Unusually large shipments of copper to the United States are unlikely to abate as long as the threat of tariffs hangs over the market and price premiums for the metal on U.S.-based COMEX make deals profitable for traders and producers, analysts said.

    COMEX copper hit a record high at $11,633 a metric ton on March 26, creating a premium of more than $1,570 a ton against the benchmark contract on the London Metal Exchange.

    “We expect 250,000-300,000 tons of extra copper will be shipped to the U.S. over March-May because of the spread and amid the uncertainties regarding the tariff,” said Sharon Ding, head of China basic materials at UBS Investment Research.

    “It’s possible we’ll see more atypical cargos in the second half of May,” Kpler analyst Ben Ayre said. “While the COMEX price continues to run at a premium to the LME there’s a strong incentive to land refined copper in the United States.”

    Source – Reuters

  • /

    Copper production up 11%, Antofagasta PLC

    Chilean miner Antofagasta said on Wednesday its copper production rose 11% to 314,900 metric tons in the first half of 2025, on higher production from its two concentrators.

    The London-listed company left guidance for full-year copper output unchanged between 660,000 and 700,000 tons.

    Source – Reuters