Title: Gold Up, Hits One Week High as Inflation Worries Persist

Feb 07, 2022 12:15AM ET

By: AnalysisWatch

Gold rose in Asia on Monday morning, hitting a more than one-week high. Inflationary pressures helped counter the impact of rising US Treasury yields following better-than-expected US employment data.

Gold futures contracts rose 0.18% to $1,811.05 by 12:08 p.m. EDT after hitting $1,814.91 earlier in the session, the highest since Jan. 27.

Meanwhile, Asia-Pacific stocks were mostly lower on Monday, with strong U.S. jobs report easing concerns about the global economic recovery from COVID-19. Benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury notes were at their highest levels since December 2019 on Friday.

The report showed that nonfarm payrolls totaled 467,000 in January, while the unemployment rate was 4%. Investors are now awaiting U.S. inflation data, including the Consumer Price Index, with strong data likely to raise bets that the U.S. The Federal Reserve will start raising interest rates.

In the Asia-Pacific region, Chinese data released earlier in the day showed that the Caixin services purchasing managers' index reached 51.4 points in January. Australia also released retail sales data.

Meanwhile, geopolitical tensions in Eastern Europe also supported the safe-haven yellow metal. The U.S. and Russia continue to clash over Ukraine, with two U.S. officials warning on Saturday that Russia has about 70% of the combat power it might need to invade Ukraine.

In other precious metals, silver jumped 1.2%, palladium rose 0.7%, and platinum held steady at $1,024.44.