Gold prices fell in Asia on Friday ahead of U.S. jobs data

PRECIOUS METALS

Gold prices fell in Asia on Friday ahead of U.S. jobs data that is seen as icing on the cake for a Fed rate hike this month. Nonfarm payrolls are seen up by 175,000 in November, deemed enough by most analysts to assure the Fed that the labor market continues to tighten, adding pressure on wages.

Gold futures for February on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange rose 0.57% to $1,176.05 a troy ounce. Silver futures on the Comex gained 0.80% to $16.638 a troy ounce. The Institute for Supply Management said its manufacturing activity index rose to 53.2 last month from October’s reading of 51.9. Analysts had forecast a smaller increase to 52.2.

BASE METALS

Yesterday, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries finalized a deal to cut production by 1.2 million barrels a day starting in January, its first reduction since 2008.US non-farm employment fell short of market expectations for three months in a row, but is expected to improve in November given ADP’s employment, initial jobless claims in November and ISM’s manufacturing and non-manufacturing job sub-indices.Salary growth will also be a focus of markets, which has been rising mildly due to low import low inflation. Salary growth may pick up in next few months. Base metals are expected to resist both increases and declines during Asian trading hours today. If US non-farm employment data turn out to be upbeat, base metals will be bolstered. But commodities priced in USD may unlikely rebound.

ENERGIES

Oil prices slipped on Friday as some investors opted to cash out after Brent touched 16-month a high on Thursday, with optimism over this week's OPEC-Russia accord on cutting output giving way to questions on the "sticking point" of implementing the deal.Analysts are now focusing their attention on implementation of the deal, the first agreement since 2001 by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and Russia to coordinate production cuts. "It looks achievable on the face of it, provided the parties to the latest production cut deal stick to their pledges, which has historically been somewhat of a sticking point," ANZ bank said on Friday.

Investment & trading in securities market is always subjected to market risks, past performance is not a guarantee of future performance.

CapitalStars Investment Adviser: SEBI Registration Number: INA000001647

Visit Here- http://www.capitalstars.com/