Gold slips on stronger dollar ahead of U.S. payrolls data

FILE PHOTO: An employee places gold bars in the Kazakhstan National Bank vault in Almaty

(Reuters) - Gold prices eased on Friday due to a stronger dollar but were stuck in a tight range as investors awaited U.S. non-farm payrolls data for further cues on the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

Spot gold traded in a range of about $6 and was down 0.2% to $1,609.47 per ounce by 0624 GMT, after a 1.4% jump on Thursday as record high U.S. jobless claims intensified fears about economic damage due to the virus and drove safe-haven demand.

The metal has declined 0.6% so far this week after an 8% jump in the previous week. U.S. gold futures fell 0.5% to $1,629.20 per ounce on Friday.

Gold could not build a rally because of the dollar's overall strength, said DailyFx currency strategist Ilya Spivak.

The dollar was up 0.1% against key rivals, hovering close to a one-week high hit on Thursday, as investors were worried about the prospect of a global recession.

"If (the U.S. non-farm payrolls) data is really bad, in the sense that the U.S. is already in deep recession, gold could actually go down as demand for cash is going to heat up again," Spivak said.

Economists are forecasting job losses of 100,000 for last month, a sharp reversal from gains of 273,000 in February, according to a Reuters poll. The data is due at 1230 GMT.

Gold has gained more than 6% so far this year, but it did see sharp sell-offs recently as a global rout in equities prompted investors to sell the metal for cash and to meet margin calls.

"With near-term positioning a bit stretched, it's difficult to gauge if there is still enough meat on the bone to whet investors' appetite for bullion on a Friday after a roller-coaster week," Stephen Innes, chief market strategist at financial services firm AxiCorp, said in a note.

Meanwhile, the pandemic continued to explode in the United States and the death toll climbed in Italy and Spain, with cases surpassing 1 million, according to a Reuters tally..

Highlighting the economic toll, China's services sector struggled to rebound in March, while the growth rate of U.S. gross domestic product will decline by more than 7% in the second quarter, according to projections released by the Congressional Budget Office. Asian markets edged down after crude prices retreated following massive gains in the previous session.

Palladium was unchanged at $2,213.25 an ounce, while platinum fell 0.7% to $722.39 per ounce. Both metals were set to register a weekly loss.


Silver fell 0.7% to $14.44 per ounce.

(Reporting by Shreyansi Singh and K. Sathya Narayanan in Bengaluru; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)

Reference: Yahoo News