Gold prices rise in early trade

10 Mar 2023 , 08:23 AM

When data revealed that weekly U.S. unemployment claims increased more than anticipated, leading to optimism that a deteriorating labor market could pave the way for less-aggressive rate hikes from the Federal Reserve, gold prices crept up on Friday as the dollar weakened.

Spot gold was up 0.1%, trading at $1,832.59 per ounce, after climbing more than 1% the previous day. Futures for U.S. gold increased 0.2% to $1,838.20.

So far this week, gold is expected to decline by around 1.2%.

When the dollar index fell by 0.1%, buyers holding other currencies paid less for bullion.

According to data released on Thursday, Americans filed the newest jobless benefit claims in the previous week in five months, although the overall trend continued to point to a tight labor market.

Later in the day, the U.S. Labor Department will release its non-farm payrolls (NFP) statistics for February, which will be keenly scrutinized for hints about the direction the Fed may take its monetary policy.

According to economists surveyed by Reuters, the jobs data is anticipated to indicate that non-farm payrolls climbed by 205,000 in February.

The Fed’s benchmark overnight interest rate is expected to peak in July at 5.475%, according to the markets.

Spot silver increased by 0.1% to $20.09 per ounce, platinum remained unchanged at $944.46, while palladium increased by 0.1% to $1,390.37.

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