Published On 7/3/2026
Gold rose today, Friday, heading to record its first weekly gains in 5 weeks, with the decline of the dollar and a decline in investor bets on raising US interest rates after weaker-than-expected employment data in the United States, at a time when oil prices remained near levels before the outbreak of the US-Israeli war on Iran, with markets awaiting the path of reopening the Strait of Hormuz.
At the time of writing these lines on Friday morning, gold in ongoing contracts reached $4,188.10 per ounce, up 1.51%, while silver reached $62.945, up 3.08%.
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Spot gold traded near $4,170.91 per ounce, silver at $62.32, and platinum at $1,665, while palladium rose to about $1,284.50 per ounce.
Gold benefits
Spot gold rose in early Asian trading by more than 1% to its highest level since last June 23, and is heading for weekly gains after US jobs data calmed fears associated with further monetary tightening in the United States.
The US Bureau of Labor Statistics announced that non-farm payrolls increased by only 57,000 jobs in June, with the unemployment rate remaining close to 4.2% and the labor force participation rate falling to 61.5%, data that reinforced the markets’ reading that the Federal Reserve may not move quickly towards raising interest rates.
The CME Group’s Fed Watch tool shows the probability of Fed decisions as priced in 30-day Fed interest contracts, while market data after the release of the jobs report showed a decline in the probability of raising interest in September to about 54.8% from 64.3% before the data.
This data put pressure on the dollar, as the US dollar index fell to 100.72 points in the latest available reading, falling 0.13% during the session, after erasing part of its weekly gains following the jobs report.
The euro in ongoing contracts reached $1.1484, the British pound reached $1.3369, and the Australian dollar reached $0.6931.
Gold usually benefits from a weak dollar because the metal priced in the US currency becomes less expensive for holders of other currencies. It also benefits from a decline in interest rate hike expectations, because the precious metal does not generate a return, so its attractiveness decreases when returns on dollar assets rise.
Oil is moving cautiously
In the oil market, prices rose slightly ahead of the long weekend in the United States, and Brent crude oil in ongoing contracts reached $72.35 per barrel, up 0.77%, while US crude reached $69.12 per barrel, up 0.63%, at the time of writing these lines.
The movement of oil was limited with cautious optimism regarding efforts aimed at stabilizing the path of peace between the United States and Iran, and the continued return of shipping movement through the Strait of Hormuz gradually after months of turmoil.
Prices fell in the previous session to their lowest levels since before the outbreak of the Iran war in late February.
The importance of the Strait of Hormuz lies in the fact that about 20 million barrels per day of oil were passing through it in 2024, equivalent to about 20% of the world’s consumption of petroleum liquids, in addition to about one-fifth of global liquefied natural gas trade, according to the US Energy Information Administration.
Reuters said that Kuwait’s oil production rose to 1.65 million barrels per day in June, compared to 580,000 barrels per day in May, after the OPEC member state boosted its exports following the temporary peace agreement between the United States and Iran.
At least 5 giant tankers carrying about 10 million barrels of Saudi oil also left the Strait of Hormuz, at a time when Saudi Aramco turned to spot pricing to accelerate sales in Asia.
