Unlike oil and thanks to the Fed and the Bank of Japan, gold woke up last week for its best week long session in two months.
While the metal settled on Friday with a small loss on Comex in New York, they still added around 2.4% for the five days, thanks to the rise on Wednesday afternoon and Thursday.
December gold slipped $US3, or 0.2%, to settle at $US1,341.70 an ounce, the 2.4% rise was still the biggest weekly gain since the week ended July 29, according to FactSet data.
Helping gold was data on Friday showing US manufacturing activity slowed noticeably in September, growing at the slowest rate in three months.
Helping gold (but not so much oil) was the slide in the value of the US dollar (which dragged the Aussie back above 76 US cents where it closed at 76.23).
While the dollar traded slightly higher for much of Friday, it still lost aorund 0.6% against its major peer currencies.
Comex silver for December delivery lost 28.9 cents, or 1.4%, to $US19.81 an ounce overnight Friday, for a weekly gain of 5%. December copper added less than a cent to $US2.201 a pound, up about 1.9% on the week.
January platinum fell $US5.60, or 0.5%, to $US1,060.90 an ounce, but was still up about 4% for the week, while December palladium added $US5.95. or 0.9%, to $US706.40 an ounce, for a weekly gain of 5.1%.
But while gold was sponging off the Fed (except for Friday’s small loss), US Treasury yields saw their biggest fall in two months, as that weak US manufacturing data helped prompt a rebound in demand for US government bonds after several weeks of concerted selling.
Yields on US Treasuries began their fall on Wednesday afternoon after the Federal Reserve officials left interest rates unchanged, supporting buying appetite.
On Friday the weakest manufacturing report for three months saw prices rise as buyers chased bonds for a bit of safety.
The sharp fall in oil prices added to the downward pressure on US yields.
The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury bond lost 8.6 basis points over the week — its largest weekly drop since July 29.
For the day on Friday the yield on the 10 year bond fell 1.6 points to 1.615, a two week low.
The yield on the two-year US Treasuries (which are most sensitive to rate changes), fell 2.4 basis points over the week and the same amount on Friday to 0.754%, while the yield on the 30-year Treasury bond which is more sensitive to long-term growth and inflation expectations, fell 11.2 basis points over the week and 1.4 basis point on Friday to 2.337%, also a two-week low.
