Gold holds ground with U.S. payrolls data on radar

Gold held steady on Friday and was poised for a small weekly gain, as attention turned to highly awaited U.S. payrolls data for clues on the Federal Reserve’s next interest rate decision.

Spot gold held its ground at $4,477.10 per ounce, as of 0211 GMT. Prices jumped 2% on Thursday as traders scaled back expectations for a September rate hike after Fed Governor Christopher Waller said he would support leaving rates unchanged if data continued to show inflation pressures moderating.

U.S. gold futures for December delivery fell 0.4% to $4,522.60.

Traders are pricing in an about 50% chance of a Fed rate hike later this month, according to the CME FedWatch Tool.

The U.S. nonfarm payrolls report is due at 1230 GMT.

“Weak figures and a rise in unemployment could weaken the case for a rate hike. In this case, gold could recover. However, the metal could remain exposed to changing sentiment, with inflation data releases coming next week,” said Ross Maxwell, global strategy operations lead, VT Markets.

“The market continues to benefit from central bank demand, which could limit the extent of any decline.”

Though gold is often viewed as an inflation hedge, elevated interest rates tend to weigh on the non-yielding asset.

Data on Thursday showed the number of Americans filing claims for unemployment benefits rose marginally last week amid low layoffs, pointing to stable labour market conditions.

Meanwhile, U.S. Vice President JD Vance said the fighting between the U.S. and Iran was not a war and declined to provide a timeline for when the conflict would be over, underscoring the challenge the Trump administration faces as the hostilities enter their seventh month and midterm elections loom.

Among other metals, spot silver fell 0.3% to $66.78 per ounce but headed for a weekly gain. Platinum lost 0.8% to $1,811.28 and palladium declined 0.4% to $1,415.75, with both metals on track for slight weekly declines.