Gold rebounds from lows after weak US jobs openings data

By Anushree Ashish Mukherjee

(Reuters) – Gold prices reversed course to gain on Wednesday, helped by a softer dollar and lower yields after falling U.S. job openings signalled a possibility of an over-sized rate cut from the U.S. Federal Reserve at its policy meeting this month.

Spot gold gained 0.1% to $2,494.24 per ounce as of 1:41 p.m. ET (1741 GMT), bouncing back from a two-week low of $2,471.80 hit earlier in the session. U.S. gold futures settled 0.1% higher to $2,526.00.

Data showed U.S. job openings in July fell to the lowest level in three and a half years.

Traders added to bets that the Fed will deliver a 50-basis-point reduction at its Sept 17-18 meeting, raising them to about 49% from 41% immediately before the data, rate futures contracts show.

“The data has shifted expectations for a little bit of a higher percentage chance of more than a 25-basis-point cut at the Fed meeting,” said David Meger, director of metals trading at High Ridge Futures.

JOLTS data indicates that there is an expectation that we are beginning to see a bit of a slowdown in the economy, leading to a pullback in the dollar, and interest rates continuing to creep lower, which is supportive to the gold market, Meger added. [USD/][US/]

ADP employment and jobless claims reports on Thursday and the non-farm payrolls report on Friday will also be closely scanned for cues on the Fed’s rate-cut path.

Markets expect 100 basis points of cuts by year-end, implying a 50-basis-point cut in one of the next three FOMC meetings, although it’s unlikely to be the first one, said Peter A. Grant, vice president and senior metals strategist at Zaner Metals.

Bullion, which offers no interest of its own, tends to thrive in a low-interest-rate environment.

Elsewhere, spot silver rose 0.5% to $28.18 per ounce, platinum gained 0.5% to $907.68 and palladium dipped nearly 1% to $929.25.

(Reporting by Anushree Mukherjee in Bengaluru, additional reporting by Swati Verma; Editing by Shreya Biswas and Janane Venkatraman)