Bright day for bullions

Gold extends gains to a second straight session

Bullion prices settled higher on Monday, 05 October 2015. Gold went up extending gains to a second straight session as traders continued to mull the impact of last week's disappointing monthly U.S. jobs report and the likelihood that the Federal Reserve will continue to delay a hike in interest rates.

Gold futures for December delivery rose $1, or 0.1%, to settle at $1,137.60 an ounce on Comex. Prices rallied on Friday, putting an end to a losing streak that spanned five sessions in a row.

December silver picked up 44.5 cents, or 2.9%, to $15.708 an ounce, finishing higher after a 5.2% rally on Friday.

Data on Monday, however, showed that a measure of the services side of the U.S. economy slowed in September to a below-forecast reading that was the lowest in three months.

Meanwhile, the World Bank on Monday downgraded China's economic growth forecast, raising expectations that the country, which is among the world's biggest gold buyers, will take steps to accelerate economic growth.

World investor and trader risk appetite was on the upswing on this first day of the trading week. World stock markets were mostly higher and U.S. stock indexes were holding good gains in afternoon trading Monday. Mainland China's markets were closed for a holiday Monday. Last Friday's big miss to the downside in the monthly U.S. jobs report has led to ideas the Federal Reserve will have to hold off on raising interest rates until next year.

The downbeat U.S. non-farm payrolls number last Friday (up 142,000 versus expectations of up 200,000) may make the U.S. central bank at least somewhat fall more into line with the central banks of China and the European Union, which are worrying more about stagnant economic growth and leading to the likelihood of more monetary policy easing measures. That's a bullish element for the raw commodity sector, including the precious metals.

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