Gold, silver extend gains as payrolls beat forecasts
Spot gold prices are firmer and spot silver prices are sharply higher in early U.S. trading Friday, with metals holding gains after the April jobs report came in above expectations. At the time of writing, spot gold was trading near $4,724.50 an ounce, up 0.75%, while spot silver was trading at $81.044, up 3.22% on the session.
The April employment report showed the U.S. economy added 115,000 jobs, above the roughly 65,000 consensus estimate, while the unemployment rate held at 4.3%. The print kept the labor-market slowdown theme intact but did not deliver the weak payrolls number gold bulls would have preferred before the U.S. open.
Phillip Neuhart, head of market and economic research at First Citizens Wealth, described the labor backdrop this morning as a “low-hire, low-fire equilibrium.” The phrase captures the macro tension for bullion: slower hiring supports rate-cut optionality, but a still-stable labor market limits urgency for Fed easing.
Traders are watching the post-payrolls move in the dollar, Treasury yields and oil after a volatile week tied to Middle East tensions.The U.S.-Iran ceasefire is under renewed strain this morning after U.S. forces and Iranian units exchanged fire in and around the Strait of Hormuz, with Washington describing its strikes as defensive and Tehran accusing the U.S. of violating the truce. Iran has moved to formalize control over shipping through the waterway with a new Persian Gulf Strait Authority, while Gulf security risk widened after the UAE reported intercepting Iranian missiles and drones. Diplomacy is still active, but the latest U.S. proposal has met resistance from senior Iranian officials, leaving the strait effectively constrained, oil holding near the $100-a-barrel area and shipping markets still pricing elevated transit risk through the world’s most important energy chokepoint.
The key outside markets see Nymex WTI crude oil prices trading around $95.16 a barrel, while Brent crude was near $100.28. The U.S. dollar index is mixed to firmer after payrolls, while the yield on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note is trading near the 4.4% area.
Technically, spot gold bulls’ next upside price objective is to push prices above the $4,744.34 to $4,780.78 resistance zone, with a sustained move targeting $4,850.68 and then $4,891.54. Bears’ next near-term downside price objective is a break below $4,685.27, with deeper downside targets at $4,633.00 and then $4,541.88. First resistance is seen at $4,744.34 and then at the 50-day moving average near $4,780.78. First support is seen at $4,685.27 and then at $4,633.00.
Spot silver bulls’ next upside price objective is to drive prices above the $83.00 area, with a sustained move targeting $90.00 and then the $95.00 region. The next downside price objective for the bears is a break below $72.00, with deeper downside targets at $70.00 and then $61.00. First resistance is seen at $83.00 and then at $90.00. Next support is seen at $72.00 and then at $70.00.
