Gold Gives Back US Jobless Surge, Ends Week 3.6% Lower; Silver Dumps 10%

From Chris Mullen at GoldSeek.com...

Gold fell again Friday, losing $6.40 to $792.25 per ounce by late trade in Asia before it spiked sharply higher on the latest US jobs data.

Gold rose to see over 2% gains as high as $818.75 as the Dollar and US stocks fell, but it then fell back off for most of the rest of trade and ended with a gain of just 0.1% for the session.

For the week, Gold lost 3.6% against the US Dollar, but against the Euro and British Pound it slipped less than 0.5%.

The Gold Price in Euros rose to about €560, platinum fell $41.50 to $1358, and copper fell over 17 cents to about $3.12.

Silver fell $0.25 to $12.60 on Friday before it rose to $13.11 in early New York trade. Silver also then fell back off for most of the rest of trade and ended near its new session low of $12.06 with a loss of 4.79%.

For the week, silver lost almost 10% of its Dollar value.

Gold and silver mining equities rose roughly 2% at the open before they fell to see over 2% losses about an hour into trade, but they then chopped their way higher for the remainder of trade and ended about 0.5% higher.

Oil fell to a five month low on a resilient dollar and more worries over slowing demand as Tropical Storm Hannah started to make its way up the East coast and traders kept their eyes on Tropical Storm Ike that is forecasted to make its way into the Gulf of Mexico next Wednesday morning. Traders were also looking forward to OPEC’s meeting on Tuesday and the monthly IEA report on Wednesday in addition to the weekly inventory report.

The US Dollar index fell at the Wall Street opening and Treasury bonds rose as the Dow, Nasdaq, and S&P dropped sharply in reaction to news of a jump in US unemployment, up from 5.7% in July to 6.1% in August.

The Bureau of Labor Studies’ math added around 125,000 jobs to the figure through its “birth/death” adjustment for new business start-ups.

The Mortgage Bankers Association also reported today that “US foreclosures accelerated to the fastest pace in almost three decades during the second quarter as interest rates increased and home values fell, prompting more Americans to walk away from homes they couldn't refinance or sell.”

The stock market bounced as trade wore on, however, as the Dow erased a 150 point loss to end with a small gain along with the S&P and Dollar.

The Nasdaq ended modestly lower and bonds closed flat.

Next week’s economic highlights include US Consumer Credit on Monday, Pending Home Sales and Wholesale Inventories on Tuesday, Export and Import Prices, Initial Jobless Claims, the Trade Balance and Treasury Budget on Thursday, and PPI, Retail Sales, Business Inventories, and Michigan Sentiment on Friday.