Gold prices held steady on Friday, and were on track for their first weekly gain in three, as traders stepped up bets that the U.S. Federal Reserve will start cutting rates soon, sending the dollar and Treasury yields lower.
Spot gold was little changed at $2,377.13 per ounce U.S. Bullion gained about 2% so far this week.
U.S. gold futures rose 0.2% to $2,396.00.
The dollar hovered close to an eight-week low and benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury yield fell to as low as 4.275% on Thursday, its lowest since April 1, making bullion more attractive for investors.
Markets now look forward to the U.S. non-farm payrolls data at 8:30 a.m. EDT, with the possibility that jobs growth comes in below the 185,000 median forecast of economists.
Gold prices are expected to hit another record high this year despite a dip in physical demand, consultancy Metals Focus said.
A cocktail of factors from U.S. rate cut expectations, central bank buying to geopolitical tensions underpinned bullion’s demand to hit a record high of $2,449.89 U.S. on May 20.
Meantime, spot silver fell 0.4% to $31.16 U.S. per ounce, platinum was up 0.3% at $1,006.15 U.S. and palladium lost 0.4% to $925.75 U.S.
