“It shows the economy, from a labor perspective, is heading in the direction that the Fed wants,” Doug Duncan, chief economist at Fannie Mae, told Reuters.
Higher interest rates weigh on gold and other hard assets as the commodity pays investors nothing and struggles to compete with yield-generating assets when borrowing costs increase.
Additionally, a strengthening U.S. dollar also weighed on precious metals. The U.S. Dollar Index (DXY), which tracks the greenback’s movement against a basket of major global currencies, rose 0.4% to 96.2 on Friday. A stronger makes USD-denominated gold costlier to foreign buyers.
For more information on the gold market, visit our gold category.
VanEck Vectors Gold Miners ETF