KUWAIT CITY, June 10: Gold prices declined to USD 3,310 per ounce last week affected by strong American labor market data, specialized economic report showed. A report by Kuwaiti Dar Al-Sabaek mentioned that the week started with a high of USD 3,403 an ounce, but gradually decreased due to lack of incentives profit making. American jobs report for the month of May included the addition of 139,00 job, surpassing expectations of 125,000, with unemployment rates remaining at 4.2 percent, supporting strength of the dollar and increasing bond yields.

The report stated that trade talks between the United States and China played a role in limiting gold’s gains after the two presidents held a phone call that helped calm tensions, followed by the announcement of an upcoming trade meeting in the British capital, London. It indicated that geopolitical tensions in other regions, such as the Russian-Ukrainian crisis and escalating events in the Middle East remain supportive factors for gold prices, in addition to the continuous intensified purchases the precious metal by central banks around the world, in a strategic shift away from dollar-denominated assets.

The report noted that global markets are awaiting the release of US inflation data this week, starting with the Consumer Price Index on Wednesday, followed by the Producer Price Index on Thursday, followed by the University of Michigan’s Consumer Confidence Survey on Friday. It indicated that this kind of data is pivotal in determining the path of monetary policy by the US Federal Reserve ahead of its meeting scheduled for the 17th and 18th of this month. Locally, the price of 24-karat gold reached KD 32.750 per gram (approx. USD 107), while the price of the 22-karat gram reached KD 30 (approx. USD 98) and the silver kilogram KD 407 (approx. USD 1,329). (KUNA)