Gold rises after the publication of US statistics

The price of gold is rising on Friday after the US labor market data published today turned out to be below expectations.

Quotations of the August gold futures on the New York Comex exchange rose by 1.07%, reaching $1940.90 per troy ounce. The price of the July silver futures also increased, reaching $23,363 per ounce.

According to the Non-Farm Payrolls report, unemployment in the United States in June fell to 3.6% from the May level of 3.7%. The number of people employed in non-agricultural sectors of the economy increased by 209 thousand people. The first indicator coincided with analysts' expectations, but the growth of the second was insufficient: experts predicted an increase of 225 thousand.

Fresh data may affect the decision of the US Federal Reserve on the interest rate at the next meeting at the end of July. Most analysts expect the rate to rise by 25 basis points to the level of 5.25-5.5%, although there are those who predict the preservation of the current rate level.

As a rule, an increase in the interest rate strengthens the national currency, and the strengthening of the dollar, in turn, increases the demand for American securities, which constitute an alternative to the precious metal as a «reliable asset». In addition, this makes precious metals less attractive to owners of other currencies.