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1st LD Writethru: Gold down on weaker-than-expected U.S. payrolls report

Xinhua, July 3, 2015 Adjust font size:

Gold futures on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange went down Thursday as the U.S. jobs report was shy of expectations. The most active gold contract for August delivery fell 5.8 U.S. dollars, or 0.50 percent, to settle at 1,163.50 dollars per ounce.

Gold was given support as a report released by the U.S. Department of Labor Thursday showed nonfarm payroll growth increasing by 223,000, which was below the expectations. Analysts note that average hourly earnings remain unchanged in June.

Some analysts believe this may further push back expectations for the U.S. Federal Reserve's anticipated rate increase. Originally the increase was expected to be in June, but soft employment numbers pushed back expectations to September.

A weaker U.S. dollar also gave support to the precious metal as the U.S. Dollar Index fell by 0.2 percent to 96.05 as of 1716 GMT. The index is a measure of the dollar against a basket of major currencies. Gold and the dollar typically move in opposite directions, which means if the dollar goes up, gold futures will fall as gold, measured by the dollar, becomes more expensive for investors.

Silver for September delivery fell 1.5 cents, or 0.10 percent, to close at 15.562 dollars per ounce. Platinum for October delivery dropped 3.8 dollars, or 0.35 percent, to close at 1,084. 00 dollars per ounce. Endite