Bullion metals snap two day winning streak

Prices drop amid lack of any major catalyst

Precious metals ended lower on Friday, 07 October 2011 at Comex. Prices snapped a two-day winning streak as investors shied away from the metal amid a lack of catalysts to spur flight-to-safety buying. Commodities and stocks got an early a boost from a better-than-expected report on the U.S. job market, but that lift was short-lived as traders looked closer at the numbers.

Gold for December delivery fell $17.4 or 1.1%, to end at $1,635.8 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange on Friday. Unable to catch a defensive-buying boost after debt downgrades for Italy and Spain, prices had fluctuated between small gains and losses earlier in the session. For the week, gold gained 0.8%.



For the month of September, gold shed 11%. It registered a rise of 8% for the third quarter ending September.

On Friday, silver prices for December delivery fell $1.01 (3.2%) to end at $30.99. For the week, silver rose 3%. For the month of September, silver shed 28%. It registered a drop of 14% for the third quarter ending September.

Among economic data expected for the day, the latest job report showed that the labor market showed some small signs of improvement in September as job growth came in above market expectations and there were positive revisions to past months. The Labor Department reported that employment outside the farm sector grew by 103,000 workers in the month while Wall Street had expected a tepid 59,000 increase in nonfarm payrolls for the month. The gain in September was due in part to the return of about 45,000 workers following a strike against Verizon communications by unionized workers.

The unemployment rate held steady at 9.1% as expected. Average hourly earnings increased 0.2% to $23.12 in September, reversing a drop in August.