Gold rests ahead of employment data

The COMEX December gold futures contract closed up $2.00 Thursday at $1089.30, trading between $1084.30 and $1095.20

November 5, p.m. excerpts:
(from Dow Jones)
Gold largely meandered sideways, consolidating the recent run to record highs with traders either turning cautious or lightening positions a day ahead of the always-important monthly U.S. employment report. Market participants in general are digesting the statements they have gotten from the European Central Bank, Bank of England and Federal Open Market Committee, said Caesar Bryan, portfolio manager for the GAMCO Gold Fund…more
(from Bloomberg)
The Fed yesterday kept its benchmark rate at zero to 0.25 percent while today the European Central Bank and the Bank of England held their main rates at 1 percent and 0.5 percent, respectively. Gold futures rose for a fourth straight day on speculation that the Federal Reserve will trail other central banks in raising interest rates, driving the dollar down and boosting the appeal of the metal. Gold hit a record $1,098.50 an ounce yesterday after the Fed pledged to keep borrowing costs low for an “extended period.”…more
(from Marketwatch)
The gold contract has rallied nearly $50 in New York trading this week, with prices getting a big lift earlier in the week after India’s central bank said it would buy 200 metric tons of gold from the IMF, or about half of the organization’s planned sales. “It is very clear that central banks are behaving in a way that would suggest that gold is now again being considered a currency within the global monetary system,” wrote David Rosenberg, chief economist and strategist at Gluskin Sheff…more

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November 5th’s audio MarketMinute