Precious Metal and Industrial Metals Trading In The Green

Gold added $5.70 as Asian traders took advantage of the weak US dollar to buy up the shiny metal. The US dollar tumbled last week after a disappointing jobs

report in the US surprised traders. The US dollar took a turn downward at the moment of the release. Market expectations were for 185k new jobs but the actual was only 113k jobs compounding the previous month’s lackluster report. The dollar dipped to 80.75 on Friday to recover a few pips this morning to trade at 80.79. Silver has also gained nicely trading over the 20 psychological barriers at 20.05 this morning up by 69 points. Silver has been reactive as of late taking dramatic swings up and down day by day while gold has remained in a fairly tight trading range while edging up over the past week.  Platinum is trading in the red at 1383.60 while palladium is up $3 at 712.60.

Last week saw the return of Chinese traders who were on vacation for the Lunar Holiday for the past week. Traders returned on Friday with vengeance consuming bullion at record levels. China’s gold consumption jumped 41 percent in 2013 to exceed 1,000 tons for the first time, an industry body said on Monday, as a sharp slide in prices attracted buyers for jewelry and bullion. The demand surge has helped China become the No. 1 gold consumer and should support prices, which took a hit last year from expectations of a tapering of commodities-friendly economic stimulus by the U.S. Federal Reserve and a drop in demand in the other major buyer India. Gold consumption in China grew to 1,176.40 tonnes last year, with jewelry demand climbing 43 percent to 716.50 tons and bullion demand soaring 57 percent to 375.73 tons, the China Gold Association said on its website.

This week the economic calendar is rather light, though retail sales and consumer sentiment are on tap. Also, Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen is due to testify Tuesday in front of the House Financial Services Committee, her first appearance since taking over for Ben Bernanke.

ended Friday on a three-session winning streak, up nearly 2% for the week, as investors mulled the U.S. labor data’s potential influence on the Fed’s monetary policy. High-grade copper for coming off a 1.2% gain last week is up 0.3%, to $3.25 a pound. Copper lifted for its biggest weekly gain since December, on anticipation of China traders replenishing dwindling stockpiles after the Lunar New Year holiday. Inventories at warehouses monitored by the London Metal Exchange have declined 16% this year to the lowest since December 2012. Copper the bedrock industrial metal and a benchmark for gauging the strength of the global economy is likely to soften further in the coming year as production growth is expected to exceed that of consumption. However, any weakness may be cushioned by steady demand in China. China accounts for about 44 per cent of global copper consumption, estimates by Barclays showed. Copper is the most widely used industrial metal, found in products from vehicle parts and electronics to home appliances.