Gold prices ease in Asia on continued expectations of Fed taper
Published Dec 08, 2013 07:30PM ET
On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold futures for February delivery traded at USD1,227.30 a troy ounce, down 0.14%. At the end of last week, gold prices hit a session low of USD1,211.20 a troy ounce and high of USD1,243.30 a troy ounce.
Gold slumped on Friday after the Department of Labor said the U.S. economy added 203,000 jobs in November, beating expectations for a 180,000 increase and up from a downwardly revised 200,000 rise the previous month.
In the private sector, 196,000 jobs were added last month, compared to expectations for a 180,000 rise, after an increase of 214,000 in October.
The report also said the U.S. unemployment rate fell to 7.0% in November from 7.3% in October, beating expectations for a downtick to 7.2%.
Also on Friday, data revealed the preliminary Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan consumer sentiment index increased to 82.5 in December from 75.1 the previous month, far surpassing expectations for a 76.0 reading.
The data kept expectations in place that the Federal Reserve will begin scaling back its USD85 billion in monthly bond purchases, which have supported gold prices for a year.
In the week ahead, the U.S. is to release what will be closely watched data on retail sales, while German trade data and euro zone data on industrial production will also be in focus.
On Monday, in the euro zone, Germany is to release reports on the trade balance and industrial production. In addition, the Eurogroup of euro zone finance ministers is to hold talks in Brussels.
Also at the weekend, Greece's parliament approved at midnight Saturday a 2014 budget hat includes EUR1.2 billion in new taxes, EUR3.2 billion in spending cuts and EUR3.9 billion in revenues from real estate taxes.
Separately, the European Commission's Economic and Monetary Affairs said it would resume technical talks with Greece in January.
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Written By: Investing.com
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