Gold slides as robust jobs report stokes hawkish Fed fears
Gold prices dropped on Friday to more than a three-week low after stronger-than-expected U.S. jobs data raised fears that the Federal Reserve could keep hiking interest rates.
Spot gold was down 2.5% to $1,864.79 per ounce. Bullion is on track for its biggest weekly fall since early October.
U.S. gold futures fell 2.7% to $1,878.10.
U.S. employment growth accelerated sharply in January, with 517,000 positions added, almost double the gain in December. The unemployment rate hit more than a 53-1/2-year low of 3.4%, pointing to a persistently tight labor market.
"This (data) is going to add support to the argument that the Fed might have to remain a little bit more aggressive going forward," said Edward Moya, senior market analyst at OANDA.
The dollar jumped 0.9%, reaching a three-week high earlier in the session, making gold a less attractive bet. The yield on 10-year Treasury notes also climbed.
Earlier this week, the U.S. central bank delivered a quarter-percentage-point rate increase after a year of larger hikes and Fed Chair Jerome Powell warned of further monetary policy tightening.
Gold is highly sensitive to rising U.S. interest rates, as they increase the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding bullion.
"As long as employment and other data in the U.S. continues to be firm, I think we have to start expecting the U.S. central bank to err on the side of caution and in essence probably not pivot anytime soon," said Bart Melek, head of commodity markets strategy at TD Securities.
Traders' bets for a 25-basis-point rate hike at the Fed's March meeting ticked up after Friday's data, while the U.S. central bank's benchmark overnight interest rate was seen peaking at 4.95% by June compared to 4.91% earlier.