Weak US Jobs Report Sends Gold and Bitcoin Soaring

A weak US jobs report for September, with employers adding just 29,000 jobs, was met with a surprising reaction in the markets. Despite missing economists' expectations by a wide margin of 61,000 jobs, gold and Bitcoin both jumped in value within minutes of the report's release.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported the numbers at 8:30 a.m. ET on Friday, with the unemployment rate rising to 4.2% and average hourly earnings increasing by 3.0% year-over-year. However, the private payroll sector added only 46,000 jobs, falling short of the estimated 81,000.

Gold saw a significant increase, rising from around $4,178 an ounce to $4,227, while Bitcoin also rose, increasing from about $86,450 to nearly $87,230. This was the second time this week that both assets had jumped within minutes after a key US inflation measure cooled to 3.4%.

The surge in Bitcoin was particularly notable, with over $27.5 million in bets against the cryptocurrency being wiped out in the past hour, according to CoinGlass data. This was mainly due to traders betting on a price drop, with around $20.5 million of the losses coming from Bitcoin alone.