Gold futures edged higher for the second-consecutive day Friday, helping to narrow a weekly loss for the precious metal.
Gold for April delivery gained $11.40, or 0.9%, to $1,232.10 U.S. an ounce on Comex. Prices based on the most-active contracts are down about 0.2% on the week.
Gold on Thursday marked its first gain in three sessions, aided by a pullback for the U.S. dollar after a disappointing U.S. retail sales report and a jump in weekly jobless claims. Dollar weakness tends to make dollar-denominated commodity prices less expensive for holders of other currencies.
Elsewhere, March silver jumped 59 cents, or 3.5%, to $17.385 U.S. an ounce, poised for a weekly gain of around 4.1%.
Platinum for April delivery rose $11.80 to $1,212.30 U.S. an ounce and March palladium picked up $14 to $787.65 U.S. an ounce, down about 0.7% for the week. High-grade copper for March delivery was little changed at $2.603 U.S. a pound, trading about 0.7% higher for the week.
