Gold rose on Friday, regaining ground after Thursday’s near one-week low, as bargain-hunters stepped in, with investors keeping an eye on key U.S. inflation data due later in the day for cues on the Federal Reserve’s policy outlook.
Spot gold was up 1% at $4,967.18 per ounce early Friday morning. U.S. gold futures for April delivery rose 0.8% to $4,987.30 per ounce.
Gold slumped about 3% on Thursday, falling to its lowest in nearly a week, as strong U.S. jobs data dampened hopes of near-term Fed rate cuts. A break below $5,000 per ounce deepened losses, as selling pressure intensified.
Data on Wednesday showed the United States added 130,000 jobs in January, compared to analysts’ estimates of 70,000.
Analysts at ANZ on Friday raised their gold forecasts to $5,800/oz from $5,400 for the second quarter, noting that the metal remains an insurance asset against a plethora of uncertainties.
Investors are now looking out for the Consumer Price Index data, due later on Friday, to gauge the health of the labor market and the prospects of further rate cuts this year. Non-yielding bullion tends to do well in low-interest-rate environments.
Spot silver climbed 2.8% to $77.30 U.S. per ounce, snapping back from an 11% decline in the previous session. It was on track for a weekly loss of under 1%.
Spot platinum edged 0.7% higher to $2,014.34 U.S. per ounce and palladium was up 1.25% at $1,637 U.S.. Both metals were set to notch weekly losses.
