Metals Rally Faces Test as Inflation Data Looms

A surprise US payrolls miss shifted Federal Reserve rate expectations, sending risk assets rallying and the dollar weakening. The US unemployment rate edged down to 4.1 percent, but this improvement was largely driven by weaker labour-force participation rather than stronger employment growth.

Treasury yields eased modestly as traders slashed the odds of a September hike, with CME FedWatch pricing a hold at 56 percent. This sparked a rally in US equities, with the S&P 500, Dow and Nasdaq posting their strongest weekly gains since April.

The metals market also benefited from this shift, with spot gold climbing to a fresh seven-week high and reaching its strongest level since June 17. Silver outperformed, spiking above $65 per ounce intraday before easing, still closing with double-digit weekly gains.