Gold edged higher on Friday, climbing for the first time in four sessions as it shrugged off data showing rising US job numbers, with analysts saying that an expected rise in interest rates had already been priced in. US employers boosted hiring in November, pushing down the unemployment rate to a more than nine-year low of 4.6 percent and increasing the likelihood that the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates this month.
Bullion is highly sensitive to rising interest rates, which make the non-yielding asset less attractive while boosting the dollar, in which it is priced. "The market is still thinking a December hike is very likely, which has already factored in, and that's why gold is not really moving today," said Natixis' precious metals analyst, Bernard Dahdah.
Spot gold was up 0.3 percent at $1,174.03 an ounce by 2:33 p.m. EST (1933 GMT), bouncing up from Thursday's lowest level since Feb. 5 at $1,160.38. It was on track to record a fourth straight week of losses. US gold futures settled up 0.7 percent at $1,177.80 per ounce.
Capital Economics commodities economist Simona Gambarini said that US president-elect Donald Trump is uppermost in investors' minds. "Most investors are now looking at 2017 to see what's going to happen with Trump, what policies he will implement and the inflationary impact of those policies," Gambarini said. The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of major currencies, slipped by about 0.3 percent, helping to support gold prices.
"With a rate rise in a couple of weeks almost certain, the dollar will remain firm and gold will remain pressured, although we could see a bit of book-squaring in the run-up," said Marex Spectron's head of pprecious metals, David Govett Commerzbank said that it expects the upward trend of the first half of the year to resume in 2017.
Holdings of the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, SPDR Gold Trust, fell 1.5 percent on Thursday after dropping more than 6 percent last month. Silver rose 1 percent to $16.66 an ounce while platinum was up 1.8 percent at $927.80. Palladium shed 1.5 percent at $739, and was on track to close the week down for the first time in five weeks after tumbling from Thursday's 1-1/2-year high.
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