Gold lower, as S&P 500 surges following US Non-farm Payrolls [Video]

US non-farm payrolls surprising beat expectations

U.S. non-farm payrolls (NFP) came in significantly better than expected last month, pushing the unemployment rate to a multi-decade low.

Payrolls for January came in at 517,000, which was higher than the 185,000 many were anticipating.

The figure was also double that of December's number which was revised higher to 260,000 jobs.

As a result of today’s figure, unemployment in the United States fell to 3.4%, which is its weakest point since May 1969.

The S&P 500 remained close to a 6-month high on the news.

Apple report disappointing Q4 earnings

Shares in Apple moved higher on Friday, despite the company reporting disappointing quarterly earnings.

Following Thursday’s closing bell, Apple reported that revenue for Q4 had come in at $117.15 billion, lower than the expected $121.10 billion.

This was down 5.49% from the previous year, and came as earnings also disappointed, coming in at $1.88 versus $1.94 per share.

Apple CEO Tim Cook, blamed the current global economic downturn, and rising inflation as some of the reasons for the poor performance.

Cook also stated that, “We’re also recognizing the environment that we’re in is tough. And so we’re cutting costs. We’re cutting hiring, we’re being very prudent and deliberate on people thatwe hire.”

---

Visit here to see raw, real-time ECN spreads