Gold slipped after robust US jobs data reduced expectations the Federal Reserve will move quickly to cut interest rates.
Bullion retreated as much as 0.6% on Thursday, after adding 1.2% in the previous session. US payrolls rose by the most in more than a year and the unemployment rate fell unexpectedly in January, suggesting the American labor market continued to stabilize at the start of 2026.
The data may reinforce Fed officials’ inclination to keep interest rates on hold for now, with many traders appearing to push out their timeline for the next rate cut to July from June. Lower interest rates are a tailwind for precious metals, which don’t pay interest.
Despite its early losses on Thursday, gold continued to hold above $5,000 an ounce and has clawed back around half of the losses sustained during a historic rout at the turn of the month. The precious metal surged to a record high above $5,595 an ounce in late January before a wave of speculative buying saw the rally get overheated. Bullion then plunged about 13% in two sessions.
Many banks expect the rally to resume as the reasons that underpinned its earlier gains are still intact — geopolitical upheaval and attacks on the Fed’s independence, as well as a shift away from traditional assets like currencies and sovereign bonds. BNP Paribas SA is backing bullion to get to $6,000 by the end of the year, while Deutsche Bank AG and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. also have bullish forecasts.
Spot gold slipped 0.4% to $5,065.56 an ounce as of 7:45 a.m. in Singapore. Silver fell 0.8% to $83.60. Platinum was 1% lower and palladium was down 1.5%. The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index, a gauge of the US currency, was flat after ending the previous session 0.1% lower.
