Gold futures dropped lower on Friday, clearing gains seen in the previous session. As traders focus on the release of the monthly US reports due later in the day.
The yellow metal for April delivery came in at 0.18% to $1,350.50 on New York’s Comex at the time of writing, while silver futures for April settlement lost 0.23% to $21.555 an ounce at the same time.
The US dollar index, which measures the strength of the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, dropped 0.03% lower to 79.64 points, while the greenback dropped against the 18-block euro after the European Central Bank kept its interest rates unchanged in the previous session.
Gold – US non-farm payrolls data in Spotlight
The market are focusing on the release of the US jobs data due later in the day, as the report may influence the Federal Reserve’s decision over its monthly bond purchases.
The US non-farm payrolls data is expected to show an additional 150,000 jobs to the world’s largest economy in February, rising from the previous figures of 113,000 seen in January. With the unemployment rate expected to remain at 6.6%.
While the initial jobless claims declined by 26,000 to 323,000 in the week ending March 1, the lowest level in three months and down from analysts forecast of 337,000.
Gold – Fed Tapering
Last week the Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen said the US central bank would consider the pace of reducing its bond purchases if the economy weakens. Members of the Federal Reserve would gather for its next meeting scheduled for March 18-19. The Fed has announced a $10 billion reduction from its $85 billion monthly bond purchase at each of its past two meeting, currently leaving purchase at $65 billion.
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