Gold Slips on Jobs Data, Trade-War Fears Hit AAPL as India-Pakistan Tensions Worsen
Friday, 5/02/2025 16:27
GOLD PRICES trimmed an earlier rally in London trade Friday, heading for the 2nd weekly loss in a row after new US payrolls data showed no sign of the US-China trade war hurting the jobs market so far but tech giant Apple fell hard on tariff concerns while violence and geopolitical tensions worsened both in the Middle East and between nuclear powers India and Pakistan.
Variously described as "solid...robust...absolutely fine...basically fine" by traders and pundits, April's non-farm US payrolls figures − often
a key data-point for volatility in gold trading − beat consensus forecasts by more than 1/3rd, with jobs growth of 177,000 topping April last year by exactly 50%.
Gold dropped almost $30 per Troy ounce on that US jobs news after rallying 2.0% from yesterday's 2-week low of $3203.
London bullion then fixed around $3250 at the City's 3pm benchmarking auction, down 0.8% from last Friday afternoon and $250 beneath last Tuesday's fresh all-time record high.
"Gold has benefited tremendously from the erratic exercise of power by President Trump," says the
South China Morning Post, quoting finance professor Chen Zhiwu at the University of Hong Kong.
"[He's] making the US Dollar and Dollar assets less trustable, and forcing international investors to diversify away."
US tech stock Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) sank over 4.0% at Friday's opening in New York after the iPhone giant reported stronger-than-expected Q1 earnings but chief executive Tim Cook warned that US-China tariff policies, if unchanged, would add $900 million to costs in Q2.
"The US," claims the social media account of a Chinese state broadcaster, "has proactively reached out to China through multiple channels, hoping to hold discussions on the tariff issue."
There have been "loose discussions" confirmed White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett, untouched by the first cabinet reshuffle of Trump 2.0, which moved Mike Waltz from national security adviser to UN ambassador but left Pete Hegseth as defence secretary despite the Signalgate group chat scandal.
"We expect
China's gold investment demand to stay robust in the second quarter as trade tensions, worries about global economic growth and expectations of central bank rate cuts persist, further bolstering its allure for investors," says Ray Jia of the mining industry's World Gold Council.
China's bullion and financial markets stayed closed Friday for the May Day holidays, reopening next Tuesday when the London bullion market will also return from a long weekend.
Gold demand in India, the precious metal's No.2 consumer market India, rallied this week according to local reports, with retail quotes flipping from a deep $80 per ounce discount to official import prices up to a small $3 premium.
"Retail demand started picking up thanks to the Akshaya Tritiya festival," business site Mint quotes one bullion dealer, but "many potential retail buyers were on the sidelines due to price volatility," says another.
"Stockpile food for 2 months," the Pakistan government
today urged civilians along its Kashmiri border with India after last week's Islamist terror attack in Pahalgam killed 26 people, prompting India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi to suspend unilaterally a key treaty over river flows in the region while giving the Indian army "complete operational freedom to decide on the mode, targets and timing of our response." =
"This reprehensible attack is a dangerous escalation," said Syria's Islamist President Ahmed al-Sharaa meantime of airstrikes on Damascus by neighboring Israel, whose
ongoing "siege" of Gaza is "genocide in action" according to human rights charity Amnesty International.
Both the Red Cross and United Nations warn that
humanitarian aid is close to "collapse" amid the IDF's continued blockade and bombardment of the 365 square-kilometer strip.
The Trump administration today toughened its tone against Moscow, saying that Washington will step back from acting as "mediator" between Russia and Ukraine after
signing a mineral-rights deal with Kyiv − including for resources in territory now occupied by Russian forces − without demanding repayment of previous aid to Ukraine or blocking its hopes to join the European Union.
With the White House this week notifying the US Congress that it is authorizing the sale of $50 million in defense materiel to Ukraine − the first such sale since Trump's inauguration 100 days ago − a third of the €10 billion in Russian funds ($11bn) frozen by EU sanctions at Belgian clearing house Euroclear will be used to compensate Western investments seized by Moscow according to a Reuters report.
Germany's domestic intelligence agency meantime classified the AfD party − now the main opposition to incoming Chancellor Friedrich Merz's centrist coalition after a sweeping victory across the eastern states in February's parliamentary elections − as "right wing extremist", prompting calls for an outright ban by some other political parties.
While gold lost 0.9% in Dollar terms this week, more
industrially-useful silver lost over $1 per ounce to $32.05, down 3.2% as crude oil fell hard to new 4-year lows and copper also dropped.
Email us
