Gold set for largest weekly gain in almost 2 months

Shafaq News / Gold prices are headed for their biggest weekly gain in seven weeks on Friday, with the dollar and US Treasury yields weakening, while traders await key US employment data later to speculate on when the Federal Reserve might start cutting interest rates.

Spot gold edged 0.1% higher to $2,056.00 per ounce by 05:50 GMT. Bullion has climbed nearly 2% so far this week, set for its best weekly gain since early December.

"Fed is unlikely to cut rates in March, but market participants are sure that it is going to start cutting rates after that ... the remarks were bullish for gold," Brian Lan at Singapore-based dealer GoldSilver Central said.

Lower interest rates boost non-yielding bullion's appeal.

Spot gold rose nearly 1% on Thursday after data from the US Labor Department showed initial jobless claims rose more than expected last week.

A separate report showed that US worker productivity grew faster than expected in the fourth quarter.

Investor focus will shift to US non-farm payroll data due at 13:30 GMT.

Concerns over the regional banking sector in the US increased the appeal for safe-haven assets such as bullion and Treasury bonds.

Yields on benchmark 10-year Treasury notes, which are inversely related to bond prices, languished near their lowest levels seen in 2024.

The dollar index has dropped more than 0.4% so far this week.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell pushed back on the idea of an interest rate cut in the spring but expressed confidence in inflation moving towards the desired 2% range.

Money market pricing shows traders are nothing but sure about a rate cut in May.

Spot silver rose 0.1% to $23.19 per ounce, platinum was steady at $912.98, while palladium climbed 0.7% to $969.32.

(Reuters. Only the first part is edited by Shafaq News )