Moderate gains for bullions

Gold prices rose in the aftermath of the ECB easing its monetary policy

Bullion prices ended moderately higher at Comex on Thursday, 03 December 2015. Gold prices rose in the aftermath of the European Central Bank easing its monetary policy on Thursday. The ECB move was not unexpected but did prompt big price reversals in the U.S. dollar index (down) and the Euro currency (up) on this day. That led to the rebound in gold after its price overnight dropped to a 5.5-year low.

February gold rose $7.8 or 0.8% to $1061.50/oz, while March silver gained 0.6% at $14.09/oz.

The regular meeting of the ECB saw the central bank make its easing move, lower the deposit rate by 0.1%. The dollar index had one of its worst losses this year, giving commodities a boost today.

The marketplace was still digesting some data and comments from the U.S. Federal Reserve on Wednesday. While containing no surprises, the Fed's beige book and comments from Fed Chair Janet Yellen reinforced notions the U.S. central bank will slightly raise U.S. interest rates in two weeksfor the first time in nine years. This did limit stronger buying interest in gold and silver markets on Thursday. Yellen delivered a speech and testimony on the economy to U.S. lawmakers on Thursday, but it was pretty much in line with what she said on Wednesday.

The important U.S. jobs report is due out on Friday. The key non-farm payrolls number is expected to be up around 205,000 in November. An OPEC oil cartel meeting also begins on Friday and will be closely watched by the market. There is talk Saudi

Economic data at Wall Street today included Initial Claims, Factory Orders, and ISM Services. Initial claims for the week ending November 28 were up 9,000 from the prior week to 269,000. That dropped the four-week moving average by 1,750 to 269,000, which is near a 15-year low. There were no special factors influencing initial claims, which have been bounded between 250,000 and 300,000 since July 2014. Continuing claims for the week ending November 21 were 2.161 million (consensus 2.177 million), an increase of 6,000 from a downwardly revised 2.155 million (from 2.207 million) for the prior week.

Separately, the ISM Non-Manufacturing Index for November fell to 55.9 from 59.1 while the consensus expected an increase to 58.3. The October reading was the second-highest reading for the index since December 2005. A number above 50.0 still denotes expansion and November marked the 70th consecutive month of growth in the non-manufacturing sector. Also, October Factory Orders increased 1.5% while the consensus expected an increase of 1.1%. The report showed new orders for manufactured durable goods increased 2.9%, which was a bit below the 3.0% increase reported in the Durable Orders report.

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