Commodities Wrap 2 July: Precious Metals Extend Gains on Soft US Jobs Data as Palladium Jumps
Precious metals extended their rebound on Thursday after a weak US jobs report softened the dollar and reset rate expectations, while oil ended nearly flat ahead of the OPEC+ meeting and natural gas and copper eased. Palladium led the complex with its strongest session in weeks.
Gold rose 1.30 percent to settle at US$4,135.50 an ounce, building on the previous session’s rebound and holding well above the US$4,100 mark, as the soft payrolls print weighed on the dollar and supported non yielding assets. Silver gained 1.54 percent to US$61.44 an ounce, platinum added 2.00 percent to US$1,631.90, and palladium jumped 3.65 percent to US$1,268.00, the strongest move among the major contracts.
Oil was little changed in a quiet pre holiday session. West Texas Intermediate slipped 0.17 percent to settle at US$68.46 a barrel while Brent edged up 0.03 percent to US$71.59, leaving the market in a holding pattern ahead of the 5 July OPEC+ meeting, where the seven producers unwinding voluntary cuts, Saudi Arabia, Russia, Iraq, Kuwait, Kazakhstan, Algeria and Oman, will review market conditions and set August output levels after agreeing a 188,000 barrel per day increase for July. Natural gas fell 0.47 percent to US$3.21 per million British thermal units, and copper eased 0.06 percent to US$6.18 a pound.
The relative moves sharpened the session’s message. Palladium outperformed gold by more than 2.3 percentage points, and silver’s continued outperformance narrowed the gold to silver ratio slightly to about 67.3 from 67.5 in the prior session. The Brent WTI spread stood at about US$3.13 a barrel, little changed and consistent with a well supplied international crude market.
Why it matters: The jobs driven dollar weakness gave precious metals a second straight day of gains and reinforced gold’s position above US$4,000, keeping it attractive for reserve diversification, while the breadth of the move across silver, platinum and palladium points to renewed investment demand rather than a single market story. For MENA oil exporters, including the Gulf producers, crude holding near US$71.59 on Brent keeps revenues at manageable levels for regional fiscal plans ahead of the OPEC+ decision, while for importers such as Egypt and Jordan, steady oil alongside a softer dollar is a modest positive for import bills and external balances.
Outlook: The 5 July OPEC+ meeting on August production levels is the immediate catalyst for oil, with the group balancing the continued unwinding of voluntary cuts against a market already trading below US$72 on Brent. For metals, the path runs through the dollar, US real yields and the late July Federal Reserve meeting: if incoming inflation data confirm the cooling signalled by the jobs report, precious metals would find further support, while a firm inflation print would revive rate pressure and test the rally.
Commodities, ranked highest to lowest
| Commodity | Settlement | Change |
| Palladium | US$1,268.00 | +3.65% |
| Platinum | US$1,631.90 | +2.00% |
| Silver | US$61.44 | +1.54% |
| Gold | US$4,135.50 | +1.30% |
| Brent | US$71.59 | +0.03% |
| Copper | US$6.18 | -0.06% |
| WTI | US$68.46 | -0.17% |
| Natural gas | US$3.21 | -0.47% |
The Brent WTI spread stands at about US$3.13 a barrel, and the gold to silver ratio narrowed to about 67.3.
Sources: CME Group; Intercontinental Exchange; CNBC; OPEC.
