Gold futures drop after strong jobs report

Gold futures dropped in choppy trade on Friday after a stronger-than-expected U.S. jobs report for November raised expectations that the Federal Reserve may scale back its bond-buying program as soon as later this month.

The Labor Department said Friday the U.S. economy added 203,000 jobs in November and the unemployment rate fell to 7.0% from 7.3%. Economists surveyed by MarketWatch had expected a gain of 180,000 nonfarm jobs and an unemployment rate of 7.2%.

Gold for February delivery GCG4 +0.73%  was last down $4 to $1,228 an ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It had fallen nearly $15 in the minutes following the jobs report.

March silver SIH4 +0.72% fell 4 cents, or 0.2%, to $19.53 an ounce.

AFP/Getty Images

The losses followed Thursday’s loss of more than 1% as another batch of strong economic numbers pushed investors away from the perceived safe haven of the precious metal.

“The technical picture is still a pretty grim one, however, with momentum indicators still pointing down,” said Alex Thorndike of MKS Capital.

Elsewhere in metals trading, January platinum PLF4 +0.16%  lost $4.20, or 0.3%, to $1,359.30 an ounce, while palladium for March delivery PAH4 +0.70%  fell $2, or 0.3%, to $734.85 an ounce. (MarketWatch
)