Gold / Silver / Copper futures - weekly outlook: May 11 - 15

Investing.com - Gold prices rose on Friday, as traders readjusted their expectations on how soon the Federal Reserve might raise U.S. interest rates following the release of slightly weaker than expected data on nonfarm payrolls.

On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold futures for June delivery tacked on $6.70, or 0.57%, to end the week at $1,188.90 a troy ounce. For the week, prices of the precious metal rose $12.30, or 1.23%, halting three straight weeks of losses.

Futures were likely to find support at $1,168.40, the low from May 1, and resistance at $1,199.30, the high from May 5.

Also on the Comex, silver futures for July delivery ended Friday's session at $16.46 a troy ounce, up 16.8 cents, or 1.03%. Silver gained 33.5 cents, or 2.04%, on the week, the second consecutive weekly advance.

The Labor Department reported that the U.S. economy added 223,000 new jobs in April, just below expectations for jobs growth of 224,000. March’s figure was revised down to just 85,000 from a previously reported gain of 126,000.

The unemployment rate fell from 5.5% to a near seven-year low of 5.4% last month, broadly in line with forecasts.

The U.S. dollar initially rallied against a basket of major currencies following the data, before giving back some gains, as traders focused on the negative details of the jobs report.

The dollar index rose to a session peak of 95.17, before trimming gains to settle at 94.91 by late Friday, up 0.18%. On Wednesday, the index slumped to an 11-week low of 93.95.

Recent economic reports have indicated that the U.S. economy has slowed since the start of the year, prompting many investors to push back expectations on the timing of an initial rate hike by the Fed to late-2015, instead of midyear.

Elsewhere in metals trading, copper for July delivery inched up 0.2 cents, or 0.09%, on Friday to settle at $2.920 a pound. For the week, prices dipped 1.1 cents, or 0.27%.

Copper fell to an intraday low of $2.888 on Friday, the weakest level since May 1, before turning modestly higher as weak Chinese trade data fuelled speculation policymakers in Beijing will have to do more to jumpstart the economy.

China reported a trade surplus of $34.1 billion in April, below expectations for a surplus of $39.5 billion. Exports slumped 6.4% from a year earlier last month, disappointing expectations for a gain of 2.4%, while imports sank 16.2%, worse than forecasts for a decline of 12.0%.

The slide in imports pointed to persistent weakness in the economy, fuelling speculation policymakers will do more to boost growth.

On Sunday, the People's Bank of China cut its benchmark interest rate by a quarter percentage point to 5.10% from 5.35%, in order to spur economic activity and boost growth.

It was the third rate cut in less than six months, indicating that Beijing is becoming more aggressive in supporting the economy as its momentum slows and deflation risks rise.

The Asian nation is the world’s largest copper consumer, accounting for almost 40% of world consumption last year.