Gold and silver hit a new high in a month! Behind this is not only the boost from non-farm payrolls, but also the "buying spree" by the Reserve Bank of India

Due to the poor non-farm payroll report, the market's expectation of a Fed rate cut has increased, putting pressure on the US dollar. As a result, gold and silver futures hit their highest levels since May on Friday. In addition, the "gold rush" by the Reserve Bank of India has also contributed to the recent rise in gold and silver prices.

At Friday's close, the settlement prices for the New York Mercantile Exchange gold futures contracts for August delivery, GCQ24 and GC00, were $2,397.70 per ounce, up $28.30 on the day, a 1.2% increase. The closing price of gold reached its highest level since May 21.

According to Dow Jones market data, calculated using the most active contracts, gold futures rose by 2.5% this week, marking the strongest weekly gain since the week of May 10.

Spot gold in the US stock market rose by 1.5% at the end of the session, approaching $2,340 per ounce, hitting a new high since May 22. It rose by 2.87% this week, marking the largest weekly gain in nearly 13 weeks.

Silver also saw an increase on Friday, with the September futures contracts, SIU24 and SI00, closing up nearly 2.8% at $31.69 per ounce, reaching the highest closing price since May 17. Silver prices rose by 7.2% this week, marking the largest weekly gain since the week of May 17.

The US non-farm payroll report released on Friday showed an increase of 206,000 jobs in June, higher than the expected 190,000. However, the significant downward revisions in non-farm payroll numbers for April and May offset the positive impact of June's better-than-expected data. Additionally, the unemployment rate unexpectedly rose to its highest level in two and a half years, while wage growth fell to its lowest level in three years, signaling a significant cooling in the US labor market.

In fact, in addition to the impact of the non-farm payroll report, the "gold rush" by the Reserve Bank of India has also contributed to the recent rise in gold and silver prices.

On Friday local time, World Gold Council analyst KrishanGopaul posted on social media platform X that, based on calculations from weekly data from the Reserve Bank of India, India's gold reserves increased by over 9 tons in June, reaching the highest level since July 2022.

This also means that India's gold reserves have increased by 37 tons this year, reaching 841 tons In May, there were reports that the Reserve Bank of India would repatriate 100 tons of gold from the UK to its domestic vaults.

This year, global central banks have been a key driver of the rise in gold prices, leading to a historic high in May.

According to a recent survey by the World Gold Council, holding gold has become more attractive due to escalating geopolitical and financial risks. Many central banks still plan to purchase gold in the coming year. The survey shows that around 20 central banks plan to increase their gold holdings, but it did not disclose which countries are expected to buy gold