Gold Drops 4.4%, S&P Loses 3.0% on US Jobs-Data Plunge

From Chris Mullen at GoldSeek.com...

Gold and silver traded just slightly lower in Asia and London on Thursday before they both fell off markedly in New York trade.

Crude oil fell almost 5% on a bleak demand outlook as renewed worries over sovereign debt and poor jobs data sent the US Dollar index higher while the Euro fell to a seven-month low.

Debt problems in Portugal and Spain added to problems seen recently in Greece.

Treasury bonds rose as the Dow, Nasdaq, and S&P fell some 3% on worldwide fiscal and economic worries.

Gold Prices ended near a new 3-month low of $1060.03 with a loss of 4.4% vs. the Dollar. Silver ended near its low of $15.29 with a loss of 5.8%.

The Gold Price in Euros fell to €772, down from €799 at Wednesday's finish.

Platinum lost $69.50 to $1504, and copper fell over 9 cents more to about $2.88.

Gold Mining and silver equities fell over 5% by late morning and remained near their lows into the close.

Friday at 08:30 EST brings January's US jobs data, and at 15:00 comes Consumer Credit for December expected down $10.0 billion.

Non-Farm Payrolls are expected higher by 15,000, the Unemployment Rate is expected at 10.0%, the Average Workweek is expected at 33.2, and Hourly Earnings are expected 0.2% better.

Looking to Buy Gold...? Make it simple, secure and cost-effective at BullionVault...