Gold spikes after the jobs report misses
Gold is rallying after the August jobs report fell short of estimates. The yellow metal is up 0.36% near $1,326 an ounce and is trading at its best level since the day following the US election. It's on track to post its best close in about 11 months.
Friday's advance comes after US nonfarm payrolls climbed by 156,000 workers in August, which was shy of the 180,000 that Wall Street was anticipating. The disappointing data has some traders thinking the Fed could hold off on beginning to unwind its massive $4.5 trillion balance sheet. Analysts on Wall Street have thought the Fed could lay out its plan as early as the September meeting.
The tame jobs report has also pushed back expectations the Fed will raise rates again later this year. Currently, the market sees just a 30.2% chance the Fed hikes by the end of 2017, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. That reading was at 33.8% ahead of the jobs report.
Gold is up 14.5% so far this year.
