Gold slips as higher yields weigh; focus turns to US payrolls

Gold prices dipped on Thursday as US Treasury yields firmed after the release of weekly jobless claims data, while markets awaited US non-farm payrolls figures for fresh insights into the Federal Reserve’s stance on interest rate cuts.

Spot gold was down 0.7% at USD 2,630.30 per ounce, as of 02:03 p.m. ET (1903 GMT). US gold futures settled 1% lower at USD 2,648.40.

“We’re in a period of stagnation, some range bound activity at the moment, searching for that next piece of data or that next stimuli that could push gold out of this range,” said David Meger, director of metals trading at High Ridge Futures.

Benchmark US 10-year Treasury yields US10YT=RR edged up 0.3%, while bitcoin BTC= catapulted above USD 100,000 for the first time on Thursday.

The number of Americans filing new applications for unemployment benefits increased moderately last week, suggesting the labour market continued to steadily cool.

Investors’ focus now shifts to Friday’s US nonfarm payrolls, which is likely to increase by 200,000 jobs in the month after rising by only 12,000 in October, for further clarity on the interest rate path.

A robust NFP number is more or less priced in and if we see weakness in the report, it could add some support to gold prices, said Ole Hansen, head of commodity strategy at Saxo Bank.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell said on Wednesday the US economy is stronger than expected and suggested a more cautious stance towards interest rate cuts.

Traders are pricing in a 70% chance of a 25-basis-point cut at the Fed’s Dec. 17-18 meeting. Bullion, which offers no yield, tends to perform well in low-interest-rate environments.

Spot silver was down 0.5% at USD 31.12 per ounce, platinum fell 0.4% to USD 936.95 and palladium lost 1.4% to USD 964.40.

“Auto catalyst demand substitution from palladium to platinum has been the key headwind for palladium and is likely to continue into 2026,” ANZ analysts said in a note.

(Reporting by Sherin Elizabeth Varghese and Anushree Mukherjee in Bengaluru; Editing by Krishna Chandra Eluri and Shailesh Kuber)