Gold & Oil Close Higher After US Nonfarm Payrolls
Commodities, including crude oil and gold, rallied today after the US nonfarm payrolls came out better than expected. The anticipated figure was not small, being at 101,000, but the actual change was significantly higher — 163,000. Moreover, the Service Purchasing Managers’ Index of Institute for Supply Management rose from 52.1 in June to 52.6 in July, while analyst though it would be unchanged.
Crude oil advanced as employment growth indicates healthy economy, which in turn means more fuel consumption. Gold was higher as the precious metal tends to behave similarly to most commodities. At least it was doing so in the recent times, after losing its appeal as a safe haven. Additionally, the unemployment rate increase by 0.1 percentage point to 8.3 percent, suggesting that stimulus may still be needed. That was also good for gold as well as to other commodities.
Gold soared, closing at $1,603.07 per ounce on COMEX today after it opened at $1,559.31. Crude oil closed at $91.21 per barrel on ICE, rising from the opening of $87.43.
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