Investing.com - Gold futures struggled for direction on Tuesday, amid ongoing uncertainty about whether the Federal Reserve will increase interest rates when it meets on September 16-17.
Gold for December delivery on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange inched up $1.20, or 0.11%, to trade at $1,122.60 a troy ounce during morning hours in New York. U.S. markets were closed on Monday for the Labor Day holiday.
Friday's U.S. jobs report failed to provide much clarity on when the U.S. central bank will decide to raise short term interest rates.
The U.S. economy added 173,000 jobs last month, below forecasts for an increase of 220,000 and slowing from gains of 245,000 a month earlier.
But the unemployment rate ticked down to 5.1%, its lowest level since April 2008 from 5.3% in July, while average hourly wages rose by a stronger-than-expected 2.2%.
The timing of a Fed rate hike has been a constant source of debate in the markets in recent months.
Gold fell to a five-and-a-half year low of $1,072.30 on July 24 amid speculation the Fed will raise interest rates in September for the first time since 2006.
Expectations of higher borrowing rates going forward is considered bearish for gold, as the precious metal struggles to compete with yield-bearing assets when rates are on the rise.
Elsewhere in metals trading, copper for December delivery on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange surged 8.5 cents, or 3.69%, to trade at $2.397 a pound.
Data released earlier showed that China’s copper arrivals in August totaled 350,000 metric tons, little changed from a month earlier, indicating that demand for the red metal held up last month despite recent market turmoil.
The country's trade surplus widened to $60.2 billion last month from $43.0 billion in July, compared to estimates for a surplus of $48.2 billion.
Exports slumped 5.5% from a year earlier, better than forecasts for a decline of 6.0%, while imports plunged 13.8%, far worse than expectations for a drop of 8.2%.
The disappointing data raised expectations of more policy easing from China's central bank in the coming months.
China's equity markets witnessed yet another choppy session which featured wild swings on Tuesday. The Shanghai Composite rallied more than 4.5% in the last hour of trade to erase the session's losses and end up 3%.
Volatility in Chinese stock markets in recent months has been a key theme for global markets amid concerns the world's second largest economy may be slowing more than expected.
The Asian nation is the world’s largest copper consumer, accounting for almost 40% of world consumption last year.