Gold fell on Friday after hitting a seven-week high earlier this week, as the dollar rose from multi-month lows, after monthly U.S. non-farm payrolls data was better-than-expected. Spot gold was down 0.77 percent to $1,258.36 per ounce, near its lowest level since July 28th when gold traded as low as $1,256.90 per ounce. It traded flat at $1,268.61 per ounce before the report. U.S. gold futures for December delivery settled at $1,264.60 per ounce. The U.S. economy added 209,000 jobs in July and the unemployment rate was 4.3 percent, according to a government report Friday. Economists surveyed by Reuters had expected the report to show growth of 183,000 with the jobless rate ticking down to 4.3 percent, the lowest since March 2001. "The strong rise in non-farm payrolls together with the drop back in the unemployment rate to a joint 16-year low suggests the Fed will still need to raise rates again later this year, even if inflation remains subdued," said Simona Gambarini, commodities economist at Capital Economics. "In the absence of substantial geopolitical risks, we think that Fed tightening will prove too strong a headwind for gold prices this year. We expect the gold price to end the year at $1,150 per ounce." Limiting losses in gold was escalating political turmoil in Washington which has cooled expectations for growth and inflation, and boosted safe haven assets like the precious metal. News broke late Thursday that U.S. special counsel Robert Mueller has impaneled a grand jury in Washington to investigate allegations of Russia's interference in the 2016 presidential elections. The dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six major peers, languished near fifteen-month lows hit earlier this week. Silver took a 2.06 percent drop to $16.27 per ounce, setting a new low this week. Platinum bumped up 0.53 percent to $965.60 per ounce while palladium fell 0.85 percent to $877 per ounce. Source: CNBC
