Written Commentary
Precious Metals
Gold: Gold prices reversed earlier losses as September’s nonfarm payrolls report and October’s meeting minutes offer little clarity on how the central bank will move in December, while the equities are sharply higher. September’s nonfarm payrolls came in well above expectations at 119,000 new jobs, the biggest gain in five months, while August’s figure was revised from 22,000 to a net loss of 4,000. The labor force participation rate remained unchanged at 62.4%, long-term unemployment numbers remain unchanged, while the unemployment rate remained ticked up to 4.4% from 4.3% in August after starting the year at 4.1%. The report led to a broadly weaker dollar, which could offer the metal some support.
Meanwhile, the Fed’s October meeting minutes revealed that there is a growing contingent of policymakers who view it appropriate to keep rates on hold for the remainder of the year, while “most” see further easing as likely. However, “several” of those in that contingent said that a December cut was not necessarily appropriate, while “several” also said a December cut “could well be” appropriate. The minutes reveal that there may not be majority support for a December rate cut, though most are looking towards cutting rates in the future towards a more neutral policy. Fed Funds futures are still showing under a 50% chance of a December rate cut from the Fed.
The long-term outlook for gold will remain supported by continued central bank purchasing.
Silver: Silver futures are up 0.60% to $51.18.
Platinum: Platinum is 0.5% higher at $1,564.
Base Metals
Copper: Copper prices are higher with LME prices up 0.5% to $10,801 before the release of September’s labor report. Strong results from AI giant Nvidia and a weaker dollar helped lift sentiment but concern about demand in top metals consumer China limited the upside. Nvidia surprised Wall Street on Wednesday with accelerating growth in sales. Copper is expected to benefit from the wiring needed for a surge in the number of AI data centers being built.
Meanwhile, new data on Thursday showed that China imported 279,944 tons of copper cathodes in October, down 22.1% year-on-year and 15.7% on a monthly basis. Recently, sentiment has been weighed down by disappointing data out of China. Industrial data has been uninspiring even as major infrastructure and green energy investments support long-term demand. Speculation has been growing that Beijing will target the copper refining industry in its drive to reduce overcapacity, following calls from China’s nonferrous metals association for tighter oversight of new smelting projects. Meanwhile, Freeport-McMoRan said it plans to restore large-scale production at its Grasberg mine in Indonesia in the second quarter of 2026, following a fatal incident that forced operations to halt in September.
Zinc: Zinc gained 1.1% to $3,013.
Aluminum: Aluminum rose 0.3% to $2,810.
Tin: Tin added 0.5% to $37,150.
Lead: Lead edged up 0.2% to $2,018.
Nickel: Nickel shed 0.8% to $14,530.
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