Gold was down on Friday morning in Asia, but was set for its best week in more than five months. Declines in both the dollar and U.S. Treasury yields also capped the yellow metals losses even as the U.S. Federal Reserve prepares to begin asset tapering.
Gold futures edged down 0.11% to $1,795.95 by 11:55 PM ET (3:55 AM GMT), after hitting a one-month high of $1,800.12 on Thursday. It is up 2.1% for the week so far. The dollar, which normally moves inversely to gold, inched up on Friday.
Although the recovery in the U.S. job market is widely viewed as sufficient for the Fed to begin tapering as planned in November 2021, divisions remain even among the central banks officials.
Global policymakers should continue to monitor pricing dynamics closely, but also “look through” inflationary pressures that are transitory and will fade as economies normalize, the International Monetary Funds steering committee said on Thursday.
U.S. data released on Thursday showed that the producer price index rose 0.5% month-on-month in September, and a lower-than-expected 293,000 initial jobless claims were filed throughout the week. Further data, including retail sales as well as the University of Michigan consumer sentiment and Michigan consumer expectations indexes, will be released later in the day.
Meanwhile, miner Barrick Gold Corp. (NYSE:GOLD) on Thursday reported a nearly 5% rise in third-quarter gold production from the previous three months, thanks to increased output at its Veladero mine in Argentina.
In other precious metals, silver fell 0.4% to $23.45 per ounce but set for its biggest weekly gain in seven. Platinum eased 0.1% to $1,054.09, after hitting its highest level since Aug. 2 at $1,062.50 on Thursday, while palladium edged up 0.2%.
Source: Investing.com
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