After closing yesterday’s session at $1392, on the back of continued weakness in the U.S. dollar

After closing yesterday’s session at $1392, on the back of continued weakness in the U.S. dollar, gold finds itself roughly 1% lower to start the day as U.S. weekly jobs data, lends some positive support to investor sentiment. First time unemployment claims fell last week by 12,000, beating expectations of a decline of just 1,000. However, despite the positive news, the equities arena could still be in for a rough ride as European and Asian trading sessions give little reason to expect anything different. The Nikkei took another step back to the tune of 6.4%. The rest of the metals are in negative territory as well as platinum trades 1.5% lower from yesterdays close of $1482.30 and palladium trades nearly 2% lower at its current level of $742.10. The PGMS are lower despite the talks between Lonmin and the AMCU having ended and no deal having  been reached. The AMCU had threatened to strike but a strike notice has not yet been delivered to the worlds #3 platinum producer. Business Inventories from the U.S. Census Bureau will come at 10:00 AM EST. Other than that, market participants will be left to ponder the future of central bank monetary policies. Have a great day!