Gold Price News: Gold Ends Slightly Lower on Friday

Gold prices saw a volatile day on Friday, with prices ending the day marginally lower, capping a slightly bearish week for the precious metal overall.

Prices fell as low as $2,633 an ounce by early Friday afternoon before bouncing back to trade at around $2,654 an ounce later in the session, little changed from around $2,656 an ounce in late trades on Thursday.

The US non-farm payrolls figures for September came out on Friday at 254,000 — way above market expectations of 140,000, while the unemployment rate for September came in at 4.1%, slightly below expectations of 4.2%. Taken together, the jobs figures suggested a stronger than expected labour market in the US, which in turn would indicate less pressure on the US Fed to cut interest rates in the near-term.

The US Fed’s 50-basis point interest rate cut on September 18 and heightened geopolitical risk due to conflict in the Middle East have served to support gold prices in recent days, so any doubts over further interest rate cuts could weigh on the precious metal’s price.

Despite the within-day volatility on Friday, gold has been resilient, trading a few dollars either side of $2,650 an ounce through the week. This relative stability comes on the heels of gold’s all-time high of $2,686 an ounce on September 26.

Looking ahead, Monday is looking light on data releases, although the markets will be watching out for a round of speeches by US Fed officials on Monday and Tuesday for hints about upcoming interest rate decisions that could affect the gold price.