World gold prices continued to fluctuate in the afternoon trading session on September 8, as the weakening USD created support for the precious metal. However, the Fed's interest rate outlook is still a factor that limits gold's upward momentum.
As of 2:34 PM on September 8 Vietnam time, spot gold price decreased by 0.16% to 4,399.45 USD/ounce. Meanwhile, December gold futures price decreased by 0.73%, to 4,444 USD/ounce.
Data released last week showed strong job growth in the US in August, while the unemployment rate remained at 4.1%.
According to CME Group's tracking tool, traders currently forecast 58.4% of the possibility that the US Federal Reserve (Fed) will raise interest rates next week, significantly higher than the 50% before the jobs report was released.
The market is currently shifting its attention to the US producer price index (PPI) expected to be released on Thursday, followed by the consumer price index (CPI) on Friday.
Concerns about inflation remain high as clashes in the Strait of Hormuz last weekend caused oil prices to rise. Iran said it would announce a new restricted zone in the Persian Gulf in the coming days, along with a map of the new maritime corridor.
On the precious metals market, spot silver price was at 66.13 USD/ounce, down 0.07%. Platinum price increased by 0.30%, to 1,828.57 USD/ounce, while palladium price increased slightly by 0.05%, to 1,403.75 USD/ounce.
