Gold eases on stronger dollar after Fed statement

By Clara Denina

LONDON (Reuters) - Gold slipped to one-week lows on Thursday as the dollar gained after the U.S. Federal Reserve's latest policy outlook was deemed less dovish than some had wagered on.

The metal had gained ground over the past two weeks, hitting a five-week high on Tuesday in anticipation of the Fed's decision.

But it fell after the U.S. central bank did not sound quite as alarmed about the state of the economy as some had anticipated, although it kept its $85 billion-a-month stimulus plan intact.

"The market was expecting that in light of the government shutdown and weaker data there was going to be a supportive statement, perhaps more dovish than it has been in recent months, but it didn't move in that direction," Macquarie analyst Matthew Turner said.

Spot gold was down 0.5 percent at $1,335.36 an ounce by 1102 GMT, after falling to its lowest since October 24 at $1,330.16.

Comex gold futures slipped 1 percent to a one-week low of $1,330, while silver dropped nearly 3 percent.

The dollar hovered near a two-week high and U.S. Treasury yields stood above 2.5 percent.

Gold prices have fallen nearly 20 percent this year in the expectation of an imminent scaling back of monetary stimulus by the Fed, but a budget battle in Washington and a string of weak economic data had raised questions over whether it would begin that process this year, giving bullion a boost.

"With this event risk now behind us, the market will go back into data-watch mode," said ANZ analyst Victor Thianpiriya. "For gold, the intraday moves will continue to be driven by gyrations in the U.S. dollar."

The market will monitor U.S. weekly jobless claims at 1230 GMT and Chicago PMI numbers for October at 1345 GMT.

Bullion was also undermined by slow physical buying in Asia, especially China.

Prices on the Shanghai Gold Exchange have trended lower than global prices due to fears of a cash crunch.

Net purchases by the Chinese from Hong Kong, however, totalled 110.914 tonnes in September, compared with 110.505 tonnes in August, according to data from the Hong Kong Census and Statistics Department.

Spot silver was down 1.3 percent to $22.32 an ounce, well below its highest since September 20 at $23.06 hit in the previous session.

Spot platinum fell 0.8 percent at $1,458.90 an ounce. Spot palladium lost 0.3 percent at $740.72 an ounce.

(Additional reporting by A. Ananthalakshmi in Singapore; editing by Jason Neely)

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Dollar eases, shares rise after weak U.S. jobs data

By Herbert Lash

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The dollar slid to a two-year low against the euro and global equity markets rose for a fifth straight session on Tuesday after weak U.S. jobs data reinforced expectations the Federal Reserve will keep its easy-money policy intact into 2014.

The S&P 500 index, a benchmark for U.S. stocks, closed at a record high, while U.S. Treasuries yields fell to the lowest levels in three months on the labor market report.

Nonfarm payrolls increased by 148,000 in September, the Labor Department said in a report delayed by the 16-day shutdown of the federal government. The total was well below economists' estimates of 180,000 new jobs.

Data for August was revised to show more positions created than previously reported, but revisions to the July figures showed employment gains that were the weakest since June 2012.

Economists and market analysts said the tepid pace of U.S. job growth supported the decision by the Fed's policy-setting Federal Open Market Committee in September not to begin to pare its purchases of $85 billion a month in bonds.

The Fed's bond-buying, which aims to bolster the economy by keeping interest rates low, has been a major contributor to the S&P 500's 23 percent gain so far this year.

"Today's underperforming jobs number fully justifies September's cautious FOMC," said Joseph Trevisani, chief market strategist at WorldWideMarkets in Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey.

"Dollar bulls will be discomfited but equities will find the economic logic invigorating."

Stocks rose on Wall Street, in Europe and elsewhere in the Americas after the jobs report. The euro jumped and the dollar index slipped, while government debt prices rose on both sides of the Atlantic, pushing yields lower.

Equities later pared some gains, and the technology-rich Nasdaq composite index briefly slipped into negative territory before recovering.

MSCI's all-country stock index, which tracks stocks in 45 countries, rose 0.67 percent to levels last seen in January 2008. The FTSEurofirst 300 of leading European shares rose 0.54 percent to close at 1,288.06.

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones industrial average ended up 75.46 points, or 0.49 percent, at 15,467.66. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was up 10.01 points, or 0.57 percent, at 1,754.67. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 9.52 points, or 0.24 percent, at 3,929.57.

The euro hit a high of $1.3792 against the dollar, its strongest level since November 14, 2011. It was last at $1.3781, up 0.73 percent.

Against the yen, the dollar fell as low as 97.86 yen was last down 0.09 percent at 98.09 yen in choppy trade.

The dollar index, a basket of six major trading currencies, was down 0.57 percent.

"This really does push us into a January, February mode (for Fed tapering), and if there is a shutdown, possibly even further," said Aaron Kohli, an interest rate strategist at BNP Paribas in New York.

The deal reached by Congress last week to end the partial federal shutdown was only a temporary fix, providing funds for the government until January 15 and raising the debt ceiling until February 7, which could lead to another political impasse next year.

Benchmark 10-year notes were last up 26/32 in price to yield 2.5124 percent, the lowest since July 24.

German Bund futures hit two-week highs, closing 63 ticks higher on the day at 140.54, while yields on German 10-year government debt fell below 1.80 percent.

"This report definitely gives the Fed pause. It keeps QE alive and bonds will like it and so might stocks. This is positive for all asset prices," said Craig Dismuke, chief economic strategist with Vining Sparks in Tennessee.

Brent crude oil rose above $110 per barrel, pulling its premium above U.S. light crude to the widest in six months, after news of a deterioration in relations between the United States and key OPEC oil producer Saudi Arabia.

Brent for December rose 33 cents a barrel to settle at $109.97. U.S. crude futures slipped $1.42 to settle at $97.80 a barrel.

U.S. gold for December, the most active gold futures contract on New York's COMEX, rose $26.80, or 2 percent, to settle at $1,342.60 an ounce.

European equities set five-year highs in a broad-based rally spurred by the jobs report and corporate results that beat analysts' estimates.

Norwegian insurer Gjensidige jumped 8 percent on third-quarter earnings that beat forecasts and a surprise special dividend. UK consumer goods firm Reckitt Benckiser Group rose 5.2 percent after reporting higher revenue and saying it was reviewing options for its pharmaceuticals unit.

(Additional reporting by Marc Jones in London; Editing by Dan Grebler and Leslie Adler)

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