Gold prices on Friday hovered near a two-and-a-half-month high and looked ready for their best week in five months, aided by a weaker U.S. dollar and a pullback in Treasury yields as investors cautiously await U.S. non-farm payrolls report due later in the day.
Spot gold was steady at $1,815.88 U.S. per ounce, after hitting its highest since Feb. 16 at $1,817.90 in the previous session. Bullion has been up more than 2.5% so far this week.
U.S. gold futures were little changed at $1,816.40.
The dollar index slipped to a one-week low against its rival, making gold less expensive for other currency holders, while benchmark U.S. 10-year Treasury yields hovered close to a two-week low.
Lower bond yields generally reduce the opportunity cost of holding non-interest bearing gold.
Market participants await U.S. monthly jobs report due at 08:30 a.m. EDT to gauge the Fed’s strategy on monetary support going forward. Economists expect 978,000 new U.S. jobs for April.
Data on Thursday showed weekly U.S. jobless claims dropped to a 13-month low.
Elsewhere in metals, palladium rose 0.5% to $2,960.06 U.S. per ounce, after hitting an all-time high of $3,017.18 earlier this week.
Silver gained 0.3% to $27.26 U.S. per ounce and was up more than 5% this week. Platinum was steady at $1,252.24 U.S.
