Written by Sumit Roy  |

November 02, 2012

Morning Call: Gold Plunges To 2-Month Low, Silver Sinks After Strong US Jobs Report, NatGas Falls

Details

Precious metals lead commodities lower.

Stocks are higher, but commodities are lower, led by gold, which is getting slammed after the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that employers in the U.S. added more jobs than expected in October. The BLS said that nonfarm payrolls in the month grew by 171K, better than the 125K that was anticipated. The prior month's jobs gain was revised up from 114K to 148K.

Meanwhile, the unemployment rate ticked up from 7.8 to 7.9 percent, as expected, after falling sharply the month before.

Average hourly earnings in October were flat from September, but up 1.6 percent year-over-year. Average weekly hours worked was flat at 34.4.

• Gold and silver are plunging today, as the strong employment report reduces expectations for additional central bank stimulus. The yellow metal was last trading to the downside by $20.60, or 1.2 percent, to $1693.65—a two-month low—while the gray metal fell by $0.50, or 1.56 percent, to $31.77.
  
  Platinum lost $20.25, or 1.29 percent, to $1551 and palladium shed $5.25, or 0.86 percent, to $608.
  
  
• Crude oil is mixed, as Brent rises by $0.20, or 0.18 percent, to $108.37, while WTI sheds $0.32, or 0.34 percent, to $86.79.
  
  
• Natural gas was last trading down by $0.06, or 1.51 percent, to $3.64/mmbtu.
  
  
• The grain complex is narrowly mixed, as the harvest wraps up in the U.S. Corn was last trading down by $0.03, or 0.33 percent, to $7.49/bushel, while soybeans falls by $0.07, or 0.43 percent, to $15.52 and wheat adds $0.01, or 0.12 percent, to $8.70.
  
  
• Copper was last trading down by $0.02, or 0.61 percent, to $3.53/lb on Comex.
  
  

What to Watch For:

8:30 a.m. ET: U.S. Nonfarm Payrolls/Unemployment Rate

10:00 a.m. ET: Factory Orders (September)

1:00 p.m. ET: Baker Hughes Rig Count