Gold Prices Soar After US Jobs Report, but Inflation Release Looms

Gold prices closed Friday at $4,401.40 per ounce after a disappointing US jobs report boosted gold's appeal as a zero-yield asset.

The nonfarm payrolls for July showed a decline of 23,000 jobs against expectations for growth, prompting an immediate repricing of Federal Reserve policy and causing falling bond yields and a softer dollar to boost the metal's price.

Central banks bought a net 288.9 tonnes of gold in the second quarter of this year, a 62 percent increase year-on-year, but Western investors are heading the other way with the SPDR Gold Shares ETF (GLD) seeing outflows totaling roughly $14.4 billion since March 1.

Market watchers will be looking toward Wednesday's inflation release and the Jackson Hole symposium in late August for further signals on the Fed's longer-term policy path.