The gold price only fluctuated briefly in any significant way in response to the publication of the US labour market data on Friday and is trading back at around $1,120 per troy ounce as the new week of trading gets underway.



Since the changes in the EUR-USD exchange rate were not lasting either, gold in euro terms is trading virtually unchanged at just shy of €1,010 per troy ounce.



The labour market report contained both positive and negative aspects and therefore resulted in no further clarity about when the US Federal Reserve might implement its first interest rate hike, says Commerzbank.



The first chance of this happening will be at the Fed meeting next week. The uncertainty in this regard is likely to keep the gold price in check in the run-up to the meeting. Gold prices in India have been trading at a discount on the world market price for the first time since mid-July, which suggests weak physical demand there.



This is probably due to the poor monsoon season which has reduced the income of the rural population. Whereas the positioning of speculative financial investors in gold remained unchanged in the week to 1 September, net long positions in silver, platinum and palladium were increased, though this lent no support to the silver price.