2021.04.0518:13:00UTC+00Gold Futures Settle Slightly Up

Gold futures settled higher on Monday, rebounding from early losses, as the dollar shed ground against most of its peers.

However, the gain was just marginal for the yellow metal, as investors chose riskier assets such as equities thanks to the latest batch of buoyant economic data.

The dollar index dropped to 92.54, losing more than 0.5%, after having exhibited some strength earlier in the day thanks to upbeat jobs data and report showing robust growth of the U.S. manufacturing sector.

Gold futures for June ended up by $0.40 at $1,728.80 an ounce. The contract rose to $1.734.00 an ounce around noon, rallying from a low of about $1,721.60.

Silver futures for May ended lower by $0.168 at $24.780 an ounce, while Copper futures for May settled at $4.1375 per pound, gaining $0.1470.

Data from U.S. Labor Department on Friday showed employment in the U.S. spiked by much more than expected in the month of March. The data said non-farm payroll employment surged up by 916,000 jobs in March after climbing by an upwardly revised 468,000 jobs in February.

Economists had expected employment to jump by 647,000 jobs compared to the addition of 379,000 jobs originally reported for the previous month.

A report released by the Institute for Supply Management Monday morning showed growth in U.S. service sector activity saw a substantial acceleration in the month of March.

The ISM said its Services PMI surged up to 63.7 to an all-time high in March from 55.3 in February. Economists had expected the index to rise to 58.5. The previous record high was 60.9, registered in October 2018.

According to a report from the Commerce Department, factory orders slid by 0.8% in February after spiking by an upwardly revised 2.7% in January. Economists had expected factory orders to decrease by 0.5% compared to the 2.6% jump originally reported for the previous month.