Dec 03, 2021 8:19A.M. ET
By: AnalysisWatch
Gold prices continued to recover from seven-week lows on Friday as investors awaited key labor market data from the US.
The most active gold contract for February (GCG22, 0.39%) rose 0.6%, or $10.50, to $1,773.20 an ounce. On Thursday, Comex gold was down 1.2 percent at $1,762.70 an ounce. This was the lowest level for the most active contract since October 12, according to Dow Jones Market Data.
The March silver price (SIH22) rose 0.1 % to $22.31 an ounce. On Thursday, the precious metal had fallen 2 cents to $22.316 an ounce, a day after it posted a 2.1% decline.
Investors are waiting for US jobs data for November, which economists polled by the Wall Street Journal estimate will show 573,000 new jobs created and a slight increase from 531,000 the previous month. Investors will also get the unemployment rate, average hourly earnings, and later the Institute for Supply Management's services index for November, followed by factory orders and a revision to core capital goods, both for October.
Meanwhile, investors continue to wait for news on the Omicron variant, which was discovered by South African scientists late last week and triggered days of market turmoil.
Investors hope to learn more about the variant in the coming days and weeks, but gold has disappointed investors in recent days who had hoped the precious metal would reclaim the psychologically important $1,800 an ounce mark.