Gold prices subsided on Friday as investors booked profits after a 1% rise in the previous session, but weak economic data from the United States and Europe due to the coronavirus kept bullion on track for a weekly gain.
Spot gold slipped 0.6% to $1,721.15 U.S. per ounce, but was up about 2.2% for the week so far.
Prices hit a more than one-week high of $1,738.58 U.S. on Thursday, bolstered by hopes of more stimulus from the United States, especially after jobless claims soared to a record 26 million in the past five weeks.
U.S. gold futures were little changed at $1,744.70 per ounce.
The U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved a $484 billion coronavirus relief bill on Thursday, funding small businesses and hospitals and pushing the total spending response to the crisis to an unprecedented near $3 trillion.
Among other precious metals, palladium rose 1.1% to $2,000.35 U.S. an ounce, but was on track to post its fourth straight weekly decline.
Platinum rose 1.3% to $764.81 U.S. per ounce, while silver fell 1.0% to $15.15 U.S. per ounce.
