Gold Ends Roughly Flat As Investors Analyze Private Jobs Data

(RTTNews) - Gold prices held their ground on Thursday as investors parsed private jobs data amid concerns about the impact of a prolonged shutdown on the economy, which is also weakening the U.S. dollar.

Front Month Comex Gold for November delivery slipped by 40 cents (or 0.01%) to $3,979.90 per troy ounce.

Front Month Comex Silver for November delivery inched down by 6.90 cents (or 0.14%) to $47.794 per troy ounce.

The U.S. government shutdown entered day number 37.

The closure has resulted in the furlough of 750,000 federal employees. The Senate is convening today to continue negotiations again, although economists are skeptical about a positive outcome.

The implications of the shutdown are showing up across in almost all sectors. U.S. flights and the energy bill assistance for low-income households are likely to become the next casualty.

The Trump administration has announced that the Federal Aviation Administration is cutting air traffic by 10% at 40 airports.

Analysts feel that the economy is facing a rout of $15 billion a week, which may increase if shutdown prolongs.

The ongoing economic uncertainty pushed the value of gold upwards.

The Challenger job cuts data released today showed that U.S.-based employers have announced 153,074 job cuts in October, the highest total for the month since 2003, compared with 54,064 in September.

However, the ADP report released yesterday revealed that private employers added 42,000 jobs in October, beating the forecast of 28,000.

Traders are parsing both the data to speculate on the possibilities of additional rate cuts.

CME Group's FedWatch Tool is currently indicating that investors are betting on a 71.1% chance of a 25-basis-point interest rate cut at the Federal Reserve's meeting on December 9-10.

In a case with far-reaching serious consequences for the global economy, yesterday the U.S. Supreme Court justices raised doubts over the legality of tariffs imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump and questioned the legitimacy of using 1977 legislation (an emergency-focused one) as justification for tariff implementation and sought to know if it infringed on the jurisdiction of the U.S. congress.

The skepticism raised by the 6-3 composition of justices supported yellow metal prices.

The Russia-Ukraine war is becoming more fiercer day by day.

With Russia unrelenting to calls for a ceasefire agreement with Ukraine, Russian forces aggressively spread through Pokrovsk in eastern Ukraine and Kupiansk, intending to capture major parts of the Donetsk region.

Ignoring sanctions imposed by the U.S. and the West, Russian President Vladimir Putin has demanded the surrender of Ukrainian troops.

Meanwhile, an Ukrainian drone attack caused minimal damage to oil pumping stations in two districts of Russia's Yaroslavl region.

In the Middle East, the ceasefire brought on by Trump's 20-point Gaza Peace Plan between Israel and Palestinian Hamas militants is holding on.

Analysts feel that gold may see some correction when the U.S. government reopens though uncertainty persists on how soon it will happen.