Gold Down, Countdown to U.S. Jobs Report and Fed Taper Clues Continues

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By Gina Lee

Investing.com – Gold was down on Thursday morning in Asia. Moves remained small as investors wait for the latest U.S. jobs report that could hold clues about the Federal Reserve’s asset tapering plan, with preceding employment data missing expectations.

Gold futures edged down 0.13% to $1,813.65 by 12:29 AM ET (4:29 AM GMT). The dollar, which normally moves inversely to gold, inched up on Thursday but remained near multi-week lows.

Wednesday's data showed that the ADP nonfarm employment change for August was 374,000. The figure was below the 613,000 in forecasts prepared by Investing.com but indicated a continuous, steady job market recovery.

The U.S. jobs report itself, including non-farm payrolls, will be released on Friday. Investors will be looking to this report for clues about the Fed’s timelines for asset tapering and interest rate hikes after Chairman Jerome Powell indicated labor market recovery will determine when the central bank begins asset tapering.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Institute of Supply Management (ISM) manufacturing purchasing managers index was 59.9 in August. More data, including factory orders as well as trade data including exports, imports and the trade balance, will be released later in the day.

Across the Atlantic in Europe, European Central Bank president Christine Lagarde said in an interview that the eurozone economy is continuing its recovery from COVID-19 and only needs “surgical” support for sectors that are still struggling.

In Asia Pacific, Australia released its own trade data earlier in the day. The country’s exports grew 5% and imports grew 3% month-on-month, while the trade balance stood at AUD12.117 billion.

In other precious metals, silver was flat at $24.17 per ounce, while platinum fell 0.6% and palladium eased 0.2%.