Gold dips as investors digest soft U.S. jobs data

Gold dipped on Monday trade in Asia as investors saw a weaker-than-expected U.S. nonfarm payrolls data released last week which eased concerns that the Federal Reserve would tighten its present dovish monetary policy.

Gold futures fell 0.12% to $1,889.75 by 12:04 PM ET. The dollar, which usually moves inversely to gold, soared on Monday while the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury yield declined below 1.6%.

Nonfarm payrolls data published on Friday saw a 559,000 increase in May. The figures sat well above the previous month’s 278,000 reading. However, the current reading fell below the 650,000 figure forecast. The weak payroll data doused rising concerns about potential runaway inflation and earlier-than-expected interest rate hikes.

Meanwhile, U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Sunday reported that U.S. President Joe Biden’s $4 trillion spending plan would benefit the economy despite the possibility of triggering inflation that persists into 2022 and interest rate hikes.

In other precious metals, silver fell 0.7% and palladium lost 0.3%. Platinum rose 0.2%.