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(The Epoch Times)—Gold prices broke through a monthly high during the last trading day of the week after a disappointing U.S. employment report showed lower job additions in June.
Spot gold hit a high of $2,393 per ounce on Friday, eclipsing a month-long high of roughly $2,388 hit on June 7. The new high also appeared to have broken the downward trend triggered after gold prices hit a peak of $2,450 in mid-May.
The surge in gold prices came after the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics released the latest employment numbers on Friday.
Total U.S. nonfarm payrolls grew by 206,000 last month, lower than that of May. It was also the second-lowest payroll growth this year.
In addition, the agency revised down nonfarm payroll numbers for May by 54,000 jobs and for April by 57,000 jobs. The unemployment rate grew by 0.1 percentage point on a monthly basis and was 0.5 points higher compared to June last year.
Dismal job numbers signaled a potential softening in the labor market, boosting expectations of a Federal Reserve rate cut in the coming months and triggering a rally in gold prices.
According to the World Gold Council’s Mid-Year Outlook report, gold has been one of the best-performing assets so far in 2024. It netted a 12.74 percent gain in the first six months of the year, coming only second to stocks.
WGC predicts gold prices to remain range-bound if current market expectations continue as is, which includes the Fed keeping interest rates between 5.25 to 5.5 percent, a restrained recovery in the economy, the U.S. dollar remaining flat to slightly down, and geopolitical risks continuing to create uncertainty.
“However, there’s a clear path for gold to outperform from here, likely fuelled by Western flows. Conversely, in the event that central bank demand drops drastically, rates remain high for longer and Asian investor sentiment flips, we could see a pullback in the second half,” the group predicted.
Interest Rates and Gold
Investors are now closely watching Fed action on interest rates to determine the likely direction of gold prices. The Fed raised rates from 0.25 percent in March 2022 to a range of 5.25–5.50 percent in July 2023, and rates have remained at that level until now.
The 12-month inflation rate has been above 3 percent for every single month since June 2023, higher than the Fed’s target of 2 percent. This is preventing the Fed from committing to cut interest rates.
During the recent policy-making meeting in June, Federal Reserve officials said that the agency could even raise rates if inflation continued to remain elevated.
Investors estimate that rate cuts could start in a couple of months. According to the CME FedWatch tool, an overwhelming 92.2 percent of interest rate traders expect the Fed to hold the current rates at its upcoming meeting this month, as of July 6 at 7:30 a.m. ET.
A sizable number of traders only expect an interest rate reduction of 25 points in the September meeting.
According to a July 4 post by the research group Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), gold prices are expected to continue strengthening in 2024-25 as the Fed and the European Central Bank (ECB) reduce interest rates.
“We expect gold prices to remain elevated in 2024, with the price averaging US$2,312/troy oz, up by 19 percent from 2023,” it said. “We forecast that the Fed and the ECB will continue to lower interest rates next year, and therefore expect gold prices to increase further to average US$2,498/troy oz in 2025.”
“Additionally, softer interest rates and safe-haven demand will revive interest in exchange-traded funds (ETFs). We expect net investments in gold ETFs to turn positive this year.”
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by Michael Snyder
(End of the American Dream)—What is causing the extremely loud “booms” that people are hearing in the sky all over the world? We are being told that “skyquakes” are responsible, but scientists have no idea why these “skyquakes” are occurring. In some cases, the “skyquakes” cause such powerful shaking that…
The Biggest Sale on Long-Term Storage Beef EVER
by Sponsored Post
Let’s cut to the chase. Prepper All-Naturals is offering an unprecedented 40% off for it’s “Beef Steak” survival bags with promo code “steak40”. With a 25-year shelf life and a single ingredient (beef, of course), our most popular product is available for a very limited time with the biggest discount…
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by PJ Media
A federal court has just pooped in the oatmeal of the West Coast, Messed Coast™governors and local election officials suffering from acute cases of Trump Derangement Syndrome who think they can stop illegal alien deportations. And after this hilarious and thorough legal takedown from the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals,…
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by Slay News
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by Frank Miele
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by Just The News
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on Tuesday said that it has issued two flight restrictions on the area surrounding President-elect Donald Trump’s Bedminster golf club in New Jersey, following questionable drone activity. The drone sightings were first reported on Nov. 18, but have continued into this week, according to Fox…
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by Trending Politics
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by Breitbart
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by Trending Politics
The Fulton County Superior Court has ruled against District Attorney Fani Willis, ordering her to disclose communications with Special Counsel Jack Smith and the House January 6 Committee. The decision, announced on Tuesday, follows a lawsuit brought by Judicial Watch, a conservative watchdog group, which accused Willis of violating Georgia’s…
Lindsey Graham Is the Warmongering NeoCon Leading the Charge to Upend Pete Hegseth
by JD Rucker
Pete Hegseth represents a shift away from the wokeness that has infected the United States military. This is possibly the biggest reason President-Elect Donald Trump tapped him to be the next Secretary of Defense and the vast majority of Republicans on Capitol Hill can support this, at least for the…
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by Nicole Silverio, DCNF
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by Breitbart
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky conceded in an interview on Tuesday that Ukraine does not have “enough forces” to restore sovereignty over Russian-occupied Crimea and “must seek diplomatic means” to end the Russian invasion and regain its land. The state-run Ukrinform outlet reported that Zelensky described Crimea – which Russia colonized…
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by Olivia Cook
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by Tyler Durden, Zero Hedge
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by Zero Hedge
Several weeks of mysterious drone swarms over the skies of one New Jersey county near the military research and manufacturing facility Picatinny Arsenal have sparked concerns among residents and prompted an FBI investigation. “It’s kind of unsettling,” Mike Walsh, a Morris County resident who has spotted the drones on numerous…
UNESCO’s New Mission: Train Influencers About Combatting Online “Misinformation”
by Reclaim the Net
The UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) is now incorporating teaching influencers how to “fact check” into its activities. UNESCO claims that influencers have become “primary sources of news and cultural information” around the world – which prompted it to carry out a survey into how these online personalities…
