Los Angeles CA, August 3 (Tangible Investments) — by James O’Dell — Precious metals prices were mixed in early trading Thursday as Gold edges higher ahead of key jobs report on Friday. Gold is up 0.19 percent to $1,268.50 an ounce after easing $2.00 on Wednesday to close at $1,266.20 an ounce.

Silver is up 0.51 percent to $16.64 an ounce after easing $0.12 on Wednesday to close at $16.56 an ounce. The Gold/Silver ratio rose to 76.46. Platinum is up 1.48 percent to $959.00 an ounce. Palladium is down 0.34 percent to $881.00 an ounce.

Gold edged higher in early trading on Thursday as the dollar firmed ahead of the key jobs report due on Friday.

“The nonfarm payrolls number of that report is expected to be up 180,000,” says Sean Lusk, of Walsh Trading. “If Friday’s nonfarm jobs number is also a miss to the downside, it could make the Fed rethink any plans for another rate hike in 2017 or at least in the next few months.”

The dollar remains near 15-month lows as growing geopolitical concerns have delayed passage of promised tax reforms and infrastructure spending. Also weighing on the dollar is whether there will be another rate hike this year.

According to CME’s FedWatch tool, the odds of another rate increase by December is now at 46 percent. As long as expectations remain below 50 percent, the U.S. central bank will typically leave rates unchanged.

“We’re still in a $1,200-$1,300 range and there doesn’t seem enough of anything material to worry investors sufficiently to break us through that upper level,” said ICBC Standard Bank analyst Tom Kendall.

“On the downside, on recent occasions where (Gold’s) got close to $1,200 its been well supported through a combination of physical demand and defensive buying from macro investors.”

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