The precious complex is relatively unchanged following the release of April

The precious complex is relatively unchanged following the release of April Non-Farm Payroll data that showed 165,000 jobs being added and the unemployment rate falling to 7.5%. However, before we all bust out our kazoo’s and party hats we must take into consideration that many so-called “experts” feel that ~250,000 jobs per month – on a consistent basis – is what should be “expected” in a recovering/healthy economy not to mention the Labor Force Participation Rate remains at a 35 year low! Nonetheless, market participants will take what they can get but just because the data may prove to be short-term positive for equities it shouldn’t necessarily correlate into pressure on other assets such as the precious metals. Gold has the backing of ultra-accommodative monetary policy based on recent decisions by the Fed and ECB and should maintain a firm footing at current levels to close out the week. The yellow metal now trades at $1464, just $4 off yesterday’s closing levels. Silver is up .4% to start the day.  The PGM’s, that have found support from recent auto sales figures  are also little changed from yesterday’s close. Platinum did manage to make a push higher, to ~$1519 in the overnight hours but has since given back ground and now trades just under $1500. Palladium crossed the $700 threshold but was unable to maintain and has since fallen back to $694. Factory orders and a service-sector index will round out the day’s economic data. Have a great day and an even better weekend!