Gold held gains that put it on track for its best week in a month, after fresh signs of a cooling US labor market prompted traders to curb bets on further monetary tightening.
The precious metal climbed 1.3% on Thursday after data showed jobless claims rose the most since October 2021. That spurred swaps traders to wind back wagers on an interest rate hike by the Federal Reserve in coming months, with lower rates typically beneficial for non-interest-bearing gold.
The dollar extended a drop following Thursday's print while Treasury yields fell, also boosting bullion.
Next week's inflation data will be closely watched by investors trying to anticipate the Fed's next move.
Spot gold was steady at $1,964.52 an ounce as of 9:01 a.m. in Singapore, and was on track for a 0.8% weekly gain. The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed. Silver edged higher, palladium fell and platinum was flat.
Source : Bloomberg
