Gold Prices Plummet on Weaker U.S. Payrolls

Gold futures tumbled on Friday, reversing earlier gains that followed a sharply weaker-than-expected U.S. employment report.

The Labor Department reported just 29K jobs were created in September, well below expectations, after a downwardly revised increase of 133K in August.

This cooling in the labor market lowered the odds of another Federal Reserve rate hike at the end of October, sending gold higher initially, but Treasury yields rose as the day wore on, which pulled gold down. Elevated yields tend to hurt the appeal of non-yielding bullion.

Deutsche Bank metals analyst Daniel Ghali pointed out that gold's striking resilience in a high-rate environment is worth noting, with official sector purchases running at more than double their 2021 pace.