Gold steadies after biggest weekly gain since January

Gold settled into a narrow trading range around $4,336 to $4,350 per ounce after posting its most impressive weekly performance in nearly seven months. The precious metal climbed more than 7% for the week ending August 8, a rally fueled almost entirely by a US jobs report that nobody saw coming. The July non-farm payrolls data revealed an unexpected contraction of roughly 23,000 jobs, flipping the labor market narrative on its head. For gold, which thrives when interest rate expectations fall, the weak employment print was essentially rocket fuel. What the jobs data actually changed The metal doesn’t pay interest or dividends, so when yields on bonds and savings accounts rise, gold’s opportunity cost goes up with them. The July jobs contraction rewrote that calculus almost overnight. A labor market that’s shrinking rather than growing makes it extremely difficult for the Fed to justify tightening monetary policy further. Declining energy prices added another layer of support. Lower oil and gas costs tend to ease inflationary pressures, which in turn reduces the urgency for central banks to raise rates. Context: gold’s wild 2026 ride Earlier in 2026, gold surged past $5,600 per ounc...