Gold firmed in Europe on Friday afternoon as the dollar came under pressure when US jobs data disappointed investors who had bet on much stronger figures, dealers said.
Investors had been awaiting the non-farm payrolls data all week for clues as to how aggressive the Federal Reserve may be in raising interest rates.
Bullion faltered briefly immediately after the data release, falling to the day's low around $385 an ounce, before quickly paring losses as the euro reversed tack and rose to its session highs versus the dollar.
By 1433 GMT spot gold was quoted at $389.10/$389.60, compared with $387.85/$388.55 in late New York trading on Thursday.
The US Labour department said US employers added 248,000 jobs in May, slightly more than many in the financial markets had expected. It built on two months of strong numbers.
Although traders had been braced for a significant reaction to the data, analysts said it was a classic case of buying the rumour and selling the fact.
"Market reaction to the data has been strangely muted given the strength of the report and the near-certainty that rates will rise within the next three months and continue to rise fairly steadily throughout 2004, 2005 and 2006," John Kemp, economist with Sempra Metals said.
UBS Investment Bank analyst John Reade said the prospect of higher interest rates was not necessarily a significantly bearish factor for bullion, with price volatility seen stemming more from uncertainty over the Fed's plans.
"I don't think that higher interest rates threaten gold per se - but we're in this troubled time when people have been adjusting from an expectation that interest rates are going to stay low for a very long time to now suddenly starting to go up," he said.
"Until people have got used to the idea that we're in a rising interest rate environment and repositioned themselves accordingly, things are going to remain choppy and volatile."
Silver was looking slightly shaky after broadly mirroring moves in gold this week, with dealers targeting support at $5.60. It ticked higher during afternoon trade, mapping gold's firmer tone and was last at $5.78/5.81 compared with $5.71/74 in New York on Thursday.
Spot platinum was quoted at $827.00/$832.00, from $830.00/835.00 on Thursday, while palladium was at $236.00/241.00 versus $242.50/248.50 in New York on Thursday.
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