SINGAPORE, Dec 7 (Reuters) - Gold was trading near a
three-week high on Monday, boosted by a short-covering rally
after a strong U.S. nonfarm payrolls report cemented the case
for a Federal Reserve rate hike next week.
FUNDAMENTALS
* Spot gold XAU= slipped 0.3 percent to $1,083.61 an ounce
by 0037 GMT, but near $1,088.70 hit in the previous session, its
highest since Nov. 16. It gained 2.3 percent on Friday after
slumping to a near-six-year low earlier in the week.
* Data on Friday showed U.S. nonfarm payrolls rose 211,000
last month, and the unemployment rate held at a 7-1/2-year low
of 5.0 percent. September and October data was revised to show
35,000 more jobs than previously reported.
* The robust data removed any doubts about a possible rate
hike at the Fed's next policy meeting on Dec. 15-16.
* Gold fell to multi-year lows last week on expectations of
a rate hike as higher rates tend to weigh on non-interest-paying
gold by increasing the opportunity cost of holding it. But the
jobs data triggered a short-covering rally.
* Speculators' short positions in gold are at a record high,
according to latest U.S. government data on Friday.
* Wall Street's top banks expect the Fed to maintain a slow
pace of interest-rate increases in 2016 after it first hikes
rates later this month, according to a Reuters poll conducted on
Friday.
* Fed Chair Janet Yellen has the evidence of U.S. labour
market health she wanted in order to raise benchmark interest
rates for the first time in a decade this month, but she may
have a tougher time selling further hikes.
* An "uneasy calm" prevails in financial markets about the
first increase in U.S. interest rates in almost a decade, which
is widely expected later this month, the Bank for International
Settlements said in its latest report.
* Elsewhere, the richest Hindu temple in the world could
soon come to the rescue of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's
plan to recycle tonnes of idle gold and cut economy-hurting
imports.
* India is planning to ban imports of 24-carat gold
jewellery in an attempt to curb the misuse of free trade
agreements with Asian countries, the DNA newspaper reported on
Friday.
* For the top stories on metals and other news, click
TOP/MTL or GOL
MARKET NEWS
* Asian share markets bounced on Monday after Wall Street
welcomed an upbeat U.S. jobs report that suggested the world's
biggest economy was well placed to handle an expected first
increase in interest rates in almost a decade. MKTS/GLOB
DATA AHEAD (GMT)
0700 Germany Industrial output Oct
0930 Euro zone Sentix index Dec
1500 U.S. Employment trends Nov
PRICES AT 0037 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg
Spot gold 1083.61 -3 -0.28
Spot silver 14.511 -0.036 -0.25
Spot platinum 879.07 0.08 0.01
Spot palladium 560.51 -3.32 -0.59
Comex gold 1083.4 -0.7 -0.06
Comex silver 14.505 -0.023 -0.16
COMEX gold and silver contracts show the
most active months
three-week high on Monday, boosted by a short-covering rally
after a strong U.S. nonfarm payrolls report cemented the case
for a Federal Reserve rate hike next week.
FUNDAMENTALS
* Spot gold XAU= slipped 0.3 percent to $1,083.61 an ounce
by 0037 GMT, but near $1,088.70 hit in the previous session, its
highest since Nov. 16. It gained 2.3 percent on Friday after
slumping to a near-six-year low earlier in the week.
* Data on Friday showed U.S. nonfarm payrolls rose 211,000
last month, and the unemployment rate held at a 7-1/2-year low
of 5.0 percent. September and October data was revised to show
35,000 more jobs than previously reported.
* The robust data removed any doubts about a possible rate
hike at the Fed's next policy meeting on Dec. 15-16.
* Gold fell to multi-year lows last week on expectations of
a rate hike as higher rates tend to weigh on non-interest-paying
gold by increasing the opportunity cost of holding it. But the
jobs data triggered a short-covering rally.
* Speculators' short positions in gold are at a record high,
according to latest U.S. government data on Friday.
* Wall Street's top banks expect the Fed to maintain a slow
pace of interest-rate increases in 2016 after it first hikes
rates later this month, according to a Reuters poll conducted on
Friday.
* Fed Chair Janet Yellen has the evidence of U.S. labour
market health she wanted in order to raise benchmark interest
rates for the first time in a decade this month, but she may
have a tougher time selling further hikes.
* An "uneasy calm" prevails in financial markets about the
first increase in U.S. interest rates in almost a decade, which
is widely expected later this month, the Bank for International
Settlements said in its latest report.
* Elsewhere, the richest Hindu temple in the world could
soon come to the rescue of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's
plan to recycle tonnes of idle gold and cut economy-hurting
imports.
* India is planning to ban imports of 24-carat gold
jewellery in an attempt to curb the misuse of free trade
agreements with Asian countries, the DNA newspaper reported on
Friday.
* For the top stories on metals and other news, click
TOP/MTL or GOL
MARKET NEWS
* Asian share markets bounced on Monday after Wall Street
welcomed an upbeat U.S. jobs report that suggested the world's
biggest economy was well placed to handle an expected first
increase in interest rates in almost a decade. MKTS/GLOB
DATA AHEAD (GMT)
0700 Germany Industrial output Oct
0930 Euro zone Sentix index Dec
1500 U.S. Employment trends Nov
PRICES AT 0037 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg
Spot gold 1083.61 -3 -0.28
Spot silver 14.511 -0.036 -0.25
Spot platinum 879.07 0.08 0.01
Spot palladium 560.51 -3.32 -0.59
Comex gold 1083.4 -0.7 -0.06
Comex silver 14.505 -0.023 -0.16
COMEX gold and silver contracts show the
most active months