Gold continues to rise and copper falls

Gold rose on Thursday helped by a weaker dollar, as US jobless claims data pointed to a cooling job market, easing fears of more severe rate hikes from the Federal Reserve in 2023. .

According to the Department of Labor, initial claims for unemployment benefits increased by 9,000 to a seasonally adjusted 225,000 in the week ending December 24.

Spot gold was up 0.7% at $1,817.30 an ounce, while US gold futures were up 0.6% at $1,826. Spot silver rose 1.8% to $23.94 an ounce.

Phillip Streible, chief market strategist at Blue Line Futures in Chicago, said markets were light on volume due to the Christmas and New Year holidays.

The dollar index fell 0.6%, while the benchmark 10-year US Treasury yield fell after hitting a six-week high in the previous session.

Conversely, copper prices eased on Thursday as rising COVID infections in top consumer China and concerns about a global recession fueled fears of a slowdown in demand for industrial metals.

Benchmark copper on the London Metal Exchange (LME) fell 0.2% to $8,428 a tonne.

“If we couple these concerns with the ongoing weakness in China, it is likely that demand will continue to dictate the direction of prices until early 2023,” said Warren Patterson, head of commodities at ING.

In other base metals, aluminum rose 1.2% to $2,410 a tonne and zinc fell 0.9% to $2,977.