Gold subdued as strong US jobs data dents rate-cut hopes

Gold inched down on Friday as a stronger-than-expected U.S. jobs report reinforced expectations that the Federal Reserve will refrain from cutting interest rates at its December meeting. Spot gold was down 0.1% at $4,072.87 per ounce, as of 0242 GMT. U.S. gold futures for December delivery edged 0.3% higher to $4,071.90 per ounce. “Gold prices are consolidating at the moment, and we see the dollar has strengthened quite a bit and behind it, there is a lot of speculation whether the Fed will continue to cut interest rates or not,” GoldSilver Central MD Brian Lan said. “I think now the market is unsure, and especially, now, when we are going to the end of December, we expect a lot of traders will be taking profit off their positions and that’s what we saw at the end of last week to this week.”