World gold rebounds from 3-week low

 Gold prices rallied from a three-week low on Friday, after data showed US job growth was slower than expected last month even as the US Federal Reserve reported signal to raise interest rates faster, causing gold to fall in the past week.

Ending the session on Friday, the spot gold contract advanced 0.5% to 1,797.10 USD/oz. Gold futures added 0.5% to $1,797.40 an ounce.

"With job gains lower than expected in December 2021, but with the US unemployment rate falling to multi-year lows, it's a report," said Giovanni Staunovo, analyst at UBS. mixed for gold”.

The report showed that the US economy added 199,000 jobs last month amid a labor shortage, lower than the forecast of 400,000, with job numbers growing moderately in the short term as the number of infections increased. Covid-19 disrupts economic activity.

“The gold price reaction suggests the market is more focused on inflation risks ahead of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting,” said Suki Cooper, an analyst at Standard Chartered.

The dollar index fell 0.6%, making gold less expensive for foreign buyers.

Gold prices previously hit their lowest since December 16, 2021 at $1,782.10 an ounce and fell 1.7 percent over the past week, the biggest weekly drop since the week ended October 26, 2021, when bond yields 10-year US government bonds hit a 2-year high.

Minutes of the Fed's meeting on January 5 showed that officials discussed shrinking asset holdings and raising interest rates earlier than expected to combat inflation.

The precious metal is currently very sensitive to rising US interest rates, increasing the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding gold.

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