FUNDAMENTALS
* Spot gold was flat at $1,756.25 per ounce by 0053 GMT. Prices hit a two-week peak on Friday after the payrolls data but pared gains during the session.
* U.S. gold futures were unchanged at $1,756.80.
* The dollar index inched down 0.1%. The benchmark U.S. 10-year Treasury yields touched its highest level since early June on Friday.
* Data from the Labor Department on Friday showed U.S. nonfarm payrolls increased by 194,000 jobs last month way below economists’ forecast of 500,000.
* The Fed may move to begin reducing its support for the economy next month despite a sharp slowdown in jobs gains last month as the latest U.S. surge in COVID-19 cases crested and began to recede.
* Bullion is seen as a hedge against the inflation and currency debasement likely from the widespread stimulus. The Fed’s tapering could tackle both those conditions, diminishing gold’s appeal.
* The U.S. job market will continue to feel the effects of COVID-19, but it is too soon to say it is “stalling,” San Francisco Federal Reserve President Mary Daly said on Sunday.
* Holdings of SPDR Gold Trust, the world’s largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, fell 0.2% to 985.05 tonnes on Friday from 986.54 tonnes on Thursday.
* Physical gold rates in India flipped to a discount for the first time in over two months last week as a rise in local prices curbed demand, while buying in China was expected to pick up after the Golden Week holiday.
* Spot silver fell 0.1% to $22.64 per ounce, while platinum eased 0.4% to $1,022.42.
* Palladium rose 2.6% to $2,130.94, having earlier hit a high since Sept. 13.
