Gold futures rose to $15.40 after the U.S. released weak employment figures.

Gold contracts on the COMEX (Commodity Exchange) market will be offered in August. Also $15.40 to $2,390.90/oz.

Additionally, gold prices also received positive factors from the weakness of the dollar. This increases the attractiveness of gold. This makes gold contracts cheaper for holders of other currencies.

Initial claims for unemployment benefits rose 8,000 last week to 229,000, the U.S. Labor Department said. More than analysts' estimates of 220,000.

Just look at the four-week average of the number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits for the first time. It is considered the best measure of the labor market. Stripping out weekly fluctuations, it fell by 750 cases to 222,250 cases.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Labor Department said the number of Americans continuing to file for unemployment benefits rose by 2,000 to 1.792 million, beating analysts' estimate of 1.790 million.

Investors will be watching May's nonfarm payrolls numbers on Friday. The employment figure rose by 185,000 in May, when analysts had expected. up from 175,000 positions in April. And the unemployment rate is expected to hold steady at 3.9%.

In line with market expectations, the European Central Bank (ECB) decided to cut interest rates by 0.25% at its meeting today. This is the first interest rate cut in about 5 years or since September 2019.

The said interest rate cut led the ECB to cut interest rates faster than the Federal Reserve (Fed) had expected. The central bank will cut interest rates in early September.

Investors are predicting that the central bank will keep interest rates at 5.25-5.50% at its meeting next week. And the interest rate will be reduced for the first time in September this year. While reducing again in December.