US GOLD - US gold keeps rising:6/8/2010

New York, 06 August 2010 - US futures rose again on Friday and broke through $1,200 per ounce as disappointing jobs data and a weaker dollar had investors seeking the safety of the yellow metal.

December gold closed at $1,205.30 per ounce, up $6 or 0.5 percent from Thursday’s closing price of $1,199.30 on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange (Nymex). Prices moved from an intraday low of $1,194.50 to a high of $1,213.30, the highest point since July 15.

Gold prices rallied $21.40 or 1.8 percent from last Friday’s closing price of $1,183.90 per ounce, boosted by both poor economic data in the US and expectations of greater demand in China.

Gold’s latest bounce came after today’s non-farm payrolls report showed the US economy shed 131,000 jobs last month, more than double the 63,000 expected and higher the 125,000 jobs lost in June.

The unemployment rate remained at 9.6 percent, although it had been expected to rise to 9.6 percent.

The dollar, in turn, sank to 1.3334 against the euro, the lowest point since April 30, before moving to around 1.3280.

In other precious metals, September silver climbed 15.1 cents or 0.8 percent to $18.472 per ounce on the Comex. Silver prices rose 2.6 percent this week.

However, platinum prices declined 0.4 percent and palladium prices sank 2.5 percent this week - and they both kept falling today. October platinum slipped $1.70 or 0.1 percent to $1,570.80 per ounce and September palladium dropped $8.45 or 1.7 percent to $487.60 per ounce on the Nymex.

Dollar falls but pound rise: 6/8/2010
The Great Britain pound rose versus the greenback on the report from the US about more than expected job losses. The sterling fell against the euro and the dollar as the data from the UK itself hasn’t gave many reasons for optimism. The weak US payrolls data allowed other currencies, including the sterling, to rally against the dollar. The reports from Britain were also unfavorable, though, pushing Britain’s currency down versus its other major counterparts. In June the manufacturing output expanded by 0.3 percent, the same pace as in May, while the experts predicted the 0.5 percent growth. The industrial production decreased 0.5 percent in June, compared to 0.7 percent growth in the month before and the median estimate of 0.3 percent increase.
The pound was supported previously by the hopes the actions of the Prime Minister David Cameron to rein the budget deficit wouldn’t hurt Britain’s credit rating. Now the currency is starting to feel the pressure of the uncertainty about the future decisions considering the interest rates, as the central bank’s policy makers remain split on their opinion about this matter.
GBP/USD rose from 1.5895 to 1.5960 as of 17:12 GMT. EUR/GBP went up to about 0.8312 and GBP/JPY fell from 136.45 to 136.12.
If you want to comment on the Great Britain pound’s recent action or have any questions regarding this currency, please, feel free to reply below.