Gold rallies $20 as investors react to U.S. jobs report

Gold prices rallied sharply on Monday, as investors increased bets that the Federal Reserve will hold off on raising interest rates until later this year following the release of disappointing U.S. employment data.

A delay in raising interest rates would be seen as bullish for gold, as it decreases the relative cost of holding on to the metal, which doesn't offer investors any similar guaranteed payout.

On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold futures for June delivery jumped $17.90, or 1.49%, to trade at $1,218.80 a troy ounce during European morning hours.

There was no settlement in gold futures on Friday as markets were closed for the start of the Easter holiday.

Futures were likely to find support at $1,178.20, the low from March 31, and resistance at $1,223.00, the high from March 2.

The Labor Department reported Friday that the U.S. economy added 126,000 new jobs in March, the smallest increase since December 2013. Economists had forecast jobs growth of 245,000 last month.

The surprisingly weak report added to concerns over the outlook for economic growth after other recent economic data pointed to a slowdown at the start of the year.

A slowing labor market could prompt Fed officials to reconsider a planned increase in interest rates. Last month the Fed indicated that the first rate increase could come as soon as June, but added that continued improvement in labor markets would be a key factor it would consider.

The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, traded at 96.92, not far from a seven-day trough of 96.55 hit on Friday.

Elsewhere on the Comex, silver futures for May delivery surged 48.7 cents, or 2.92%, to trade at $17.18 a troy ounce, while copper for May delivery rallied 8.6 cents, or 3.16%, to trade at $2.820 a pound.