Gold prices made their way appreciably higher by noon ET on Friday, shrugging off data showing rising U.S. job numbers, with analysts saying that an expected rise in interest rates had already been priced in.
U.S. employers continued hiring in November, pushing down the the unemployment rate to a more-than-nine-year low of 4.6% and increasing the likelihood that the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates this month.
Bullion is highly sensitive to rising interest rates, which make the non-yielding asset less attractive while boosting the dollar, in which it is priced.
Late Friday morning, spot gold rose by $9.40, or 0.8%, to $1,178.30 U.S. an ounce. The metal fell to its lowest since last February at $1,160.38 U.S. in the previous session and is on track to record a fourth straight week of losses.
Silver dropped by 0.7% to $16.37 U.S. an ounce while platinum rose 0.8% to $918 U.S.
Palladium shed 1.7% to $737.78 U.S., having reached its highest since June 2015 at $774.60 U.S. in Thursday's session, but remained set for a fifth straight weekly gain.
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