Gold heads for a 10-week low ahead of US nonfarm payrolls

Bengaluru — Gold slipped on Friday, but was trading above the 10-week low touched in the previous session, as the dollar rose against the yen on signs of progress in the US-China trade dispute and strong US economic data.

Investors are now awaiting the US jobs numbers for more signals on the strength of the economy.

Spot gold slipped 0.3% to $1,288.18/oz by 0353 GMT, after touching its lowest since January 25 at $1,280.59/oz in the previous session. The metal was down about 0.3% so far this week.

US gold futures were down 0.1% at $1,292.50/oz.

“The market is expecting some positivity in the [payrolls] data today, so if it moves against expectations there might be some sharp fluctuations in the gold price,” said Benjamin Lu, an analyst with Singapore-based Phillip Futures.

“There is a strong possibility that the risk appetite might get strong if economic indicators show some sort of upturn [in the economy’s strength] and we might see gold prices dropping.”

US nonfarm payrolls data is due at midday.

Gold on Thursday breached its 100-day moving average around $1,282/oz for the first time since at least November, mainly pressured by robust US data and an improvement in risk appetite.

Asian share markets consolidated their weekly gains as Sino-US talks produced a lot of headlines but no conclusions.

US President Donald Trump said on Thursday the two sides were close to a trade deal that could be announced within four weeks.

Meanwhile, holdings in the world’s largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, SPDR Gold Trust, fell for a fourth consecutive session on Thursday. Holdings were at their lowest level since December 10 at 24.52-million ounces.