Gold futures in New York surged 1.1 percent in early trading Friday, wiping out Thursday's similar decline, as the dollar tumbled after US jobs data showed a slowdown in hiring during July.
By 10:06 am EDT (1406 GMT), benchmark December delivery gold was up $7.20 at $664.20 an ounce at the New York Mercantile Exchange's COMEX division, dealing from $655 to a peak at $666.
The US Labour Department said Friday non-farm payrolls rose just 113,000 in July and the jobless rate increased to 4.8 percent from 4.6 percent a month earlier.
Gold also was bolstered by the war between Israel and the Hezbollah. Gold futures turnover in the electronically traded Chicago Board of Trade's complex has exceeded that of the once-dominant COMEX every day so far this week, according to data provided by the CBOT on Thursday.
On Friday, a CBOT spokeswoman said CBOT full-sized gold futures turnover of 37,992 contracts on Thursday grabbed a 52.7 percent volume share of US gold futures. It was the first time CBOT exceeded 50 percent in the full-sized contract.
Spot gold climbed to $653.10/653.85 an ounce at midmorning, from Thursday's late New York quote at $646.50/8.00. Friday's morning fix in London reached $644.55.
Anglo American Plc, the world's third-largest miner, said it was upbeat on the outlook for platinum, gold and other metals prices in the second half of this year.
"The outlook for gold in this changeable currency environment as a hedge against inflation also looks more positive than it has been for 10 or 15 years," Anglo Chief Executive Tony Trahar said on a conference call.
COMEX September silver rallied 48.0 cents to $12.57 an ounce, trading from $12.06 to a two-month high at $12.65. Spot silver gained to $12.50/12.60 from $12.04/14 previously. The fix was at $12.20.
NYMEX October platinum rose $9.50 to $1,256 an ounce. Spot platinum was worth $1,242/1,247. September palladium gained $2.35 to $327 an ounce. Spot palladium traded at $324/328.
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