Gold stays near two-week low on US jobs data, public holiday

U.S. payrolls data failed to provide clues on the timing of a Federal Reserve rate hike.

Gold held near the lowest in two and a half weeks on Monday after U.S. payrolls data failed to provide clues on the timing of a Federal Reserve rate hike, and most U.S. markets were closed for the Labour Day holiday.

Spot gold was down 0.2% at $1,119.7 an ounce at 7:00am ET, while U.S. gold futures for December delivery were down $1.00 an ounce at $1,120.40.

The precious metal has dropped around 12% in the past year, largely on expectations for a rise in U.S. interest rates, which would curb the appeal of the metal because it doesn’t pay interest like other assets such as bonds.

Friday's highly anticipated non-farm payrolls report showed the U.S. economy added fewer jobs than expected last month, though the unemployment rate dropped to the lowest since 2008.

Trading in gold and other metals ends at 1 p.m. ET because of the public holiday.

Image by GTS Productions | Shutterstock.com

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