London, August 6 (HNA) – Prices of precious metals slid, with the prices of gold and silver extended losses on Friday following better-than-expected data reports on the state of employment in the United States.
The United States Bureau of Labor Statistics unveiled that nonfarm employment in the country increased by 943,000 in July, topping the analysts’ expectations. The number of initial jobless claims declined in the last week of July below market estimates, while the unemployment rate in July monthly dropped by 0.5 percentage points to 5.4 percent.
The monthly decline in the unemployment rate helped the traders shake off some of the worries caused by the spread of the coronavirus’ Delta variant, and seemingly shift away from the so-called safe-haven assets.
The tapering talks continued between legislators and the Federal Reserve, with Fed’s Mary Daly arguing more people has to get vaccinated against the Covid-19 before the central bank considers reducing the pace of its bond-buying program. On the other side, Senator Joe Manchin urged the Fed to start tapering before the country’s economy “overheats.”
Spot gold sank by 2.28 percent to 1,763.01 dollars per ounce, while silver plunged 3.32 percent to 24.32 dollars an ounce. Gold lost 0.77 percent to sell for 1,789.6 dollars, while silver dropped 1.11 percent to 24.88 dollars a minute later.
Platinum declined by 0.91 percent to go for 998.9 dollars an ounce, while palladium concurrently moved up 0.62 percent to 2,761.04 dollars.