March 10, 2023 / 10:15 AM IST

Ravindra V.Rao, CMT, EPAT, VP-Head Commodity Research, Kotak Securities

COMEX Gold futures rose by USD 16 and closed at USD 1,834.6 per troy ounce on Thursday, tracking weakness in the greenback and US treasury yields, after the weekly jobless claims came higher than anticipation, softening the expectations ahead of the Non-farm payrolls data later today. Data showed that the number of Americans filing unemployment benefits jumped by 21,000 from the previous week to 211,000 in the week ended 4th March, the most since December 2022.

Meanwhile, investors sought the safety of bonds as jitters over a rout in US bank stocks hit risk sentiment, aiding the safe haven gold. US two-year treasury yields fell 20 bps on Thursday and almost another 10 bps on Friday morning, on signs of trouble in US banking sector, as SVB Financial Group lost 60% of value, after taking steps to shore up its capital position, stoking concern that soaring interest rates are eroding balance sheets. Investors are now focused on the February non-farm payrolls report due today evening. Price movement is completely going to be data dependent. We might see a rebound in gold prices in the event of any signs of weakness in the US Labour market.