Gold Above One-Month Low as U.S. Economy Assessed With Rates

                   Gold traded above a one-month low after three weeks of losses as investors weighed the health of the U.S. economy against the outlook for higher borrowing costs. Silver climbed from the lowest level in six weeks.

Gold for immediate delivery was at $1,292.90 an ounce at 11:31 a.m. in Singapore from $1,293.75 on Aug. 1, according to Bloomberg generic pricing. That day the metal fell to $1,279.30 an ounce, the lowest since June 19, before rebounding to pare the third week of losses that was the longest since September.

U.S. data Aug. 1 showed that while employers added more than 200,000 jobs for a sixth month, the jobless rate rose, damping bets the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates soon after ending monthly bond purchases later this year. That buoyed bullion as the Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index snapped a six-day win streak. Gold also rose on Aug. 1 as global equities fell after Banco Espirito Santo SA, which was taken over by Portugal’s central bank yesterday, was ordered to raise capital and Argentina defaulted.

“Gold had a reprieve as the dollar pulled back after the payrolls data,” said Zhang Lin, an analyst at Yongan Futures Co. in Hangzhou, China. “The U.S. has entered a monetary-tightening cycle and gold will continue to face downward pressure in the mid to longer term.”

Gold for December delivery traded at $1,293.80 an ounce on the Comex in New York from $1,294.80 on Aug. 1, when futures climbed 0.9 percent to trim a third weekly drop. Money managers cut their net-long position 10 percent in the week through July 29, the most since June, U.S. government data show.

Silver for immediate delivery added 0.2 percent to $20.3665 an ounce, after earlier falling to $20.255 an ounce, the lowest price since June 19. The metal retreated 3 percent in July for the biggest monthly loss since March.

Spot platinum lost 0.1 percent to $1,462.88 an ounce after declining in July. Palladium decreased 0.1 percent to $863.85 an ounce after prices capped a sixth month of gains in July for the longest such run since January 2011. - Bloomberg