Gold Soars As Investors Parse Non-Farm Payrolls Data

(RTTNews) - Gold prices surged on Wednesday as traders analyzed the U.S. non-farm payroll numbers for January amid geopolitical tensions in the Middle East and Europe.

Front Month Comex Gold for February delivery climbed sharply by $67.80 (or 1.35%) to $5,071.60 per troy ounce.

Front Month Comex Silver for February delivery skyrocketed by $3.5360 (or 4.41%) to $83.754 per troy ounce.

Data released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics revealed that the economy added 130,000 jobs in January 2026, (higher than a downwardly revised 48,000 rise in December), well above forecasts of 70,000.

Further, the unemployment rate ticked down to 4.3% in January 2026 from 4.4% in December (slightly below market expectations of 4.4%).

Private payrolls rose by 172,000 jobs in January, while the government shed 42,000 jobs.

In addition, average hourly earnings for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls rose by 15 cents or 0.4% month-over-month to $37.17 in January.

These strong jobs numbers have tempered the expectations of a U.S. Federal Reserve interest rate cut in the coming months.

In a speech at Ohio, Cleveland Fed President Beth Hammack stated that interest rates could be on hold for quite some time.

In a similar vein, addressing a forum in Texas, Dallas Fed President Lorie Logan stated that cutting rates would be appropriate if there is cooling in labor market. She added that she is worried about stubbornly high inflation.

Speaking to a business audience in Albuquerque, Kansas City Federal Reserve President Jeffrey Schmid reaffirmed his resistance to further interest rate cuts. He contended that any Fed easing would risk allowing inflation to remain too high.

Traders are now strongly betting on a 94.1% chance that the Fed will leave rates unchanged at its upcoming March meeting, according to the CME Group's FedWatch Tool.

Building up U.S. military forces near Iran ,including sending the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, U.S. President Donald Trump pressured Iran to negotiate with the U.S. regarding its nuclear programs. No breakthrough came through in the first round of talks held last week in Muscat, Oman.

Yesterday, Trump heightened the pressure when he stated that he could send a second aircraft carrier to the Persian Gulf if required.

In an interview with Channel 12 of Israel, Trump reiterated that the U.S. will have to do "something very tough" if negotiations do not result in an agreement.

Amid this, Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is in the U.S. to persuade Trump to include Iran's ballistic program as well as Iranian support to Hamas and Hezbollah on the agenda.

As experts feel that Iran is unlikely to favor this demand, concerns of war now loom larger than before.

In its latest attack in the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war, Russia pounded Bohodukhiv, west of Kharkiv.

While the Trump administration wants to seal a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine as soon as possible, Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov today dismissed the U.S.-authored 20-point peace framework, raising doubts of a =resolution to the drawn-out war.

Of note, the tripartite talks involving the U.S. Russia, and Ukraine are set to resume next week.