Gold fell on Friday as the dollar resumed its rally versus a currency basket after stronger than expected payrolls data cemented expectations of a third interest rate increase in September this year. A stronger dollar makes dollar-priced gold costlier for non-US investors.
US job growth accelerated in August, with wages notching up their largest annual increase in nine years, strengthening views the economy was so far weathering the Trump administration's escalating trade war with China. The greenback has soared this year on escalating US-Sino trade tensions, though it has lost some steam this week to rival safe haven currencies like the yen and Swiss franc even as investors brace for new US tariffs on China.
A public consultation period for proposed US tariffs on an additional $200 billion of Chinese imports ended at 0400 GMT on Friday and tariffs could go into effect at any moment, though there is no clear timetable.
"I'm struggling to (see) how the dollar could extend gains from here. Other central banks are becoming hawkish, the pound could come back up and the euro, once the ECB starts tightening. Gold is due for a rally," Fawad Razaqzada, analyst at FOREX.com, said.
Spot gold fell 0.1 percent to $1,198.40 as of 1337 GMT, after it hit a near one-week high on Thursday at $1,206.98. US gold futures were flat at $1,203.80 an ounce. Gold has tumbled about 12 percent from a peak of $1,365.23 in April, though present levels have invoked a lot of physical buying in Asia, traders and analysts said.
Indicating possible headwinds for the dollar was an overnight report that bolstered the yen after suggesting US President Donald Trump would next take up trade issues with Japan. Battered emerging market currencies have also recovered their poise versus the dollar.
"The stronger yen versus the dollar is leading to some buying in gold ... The recent low of around $1,160 in August is really the bottom in gold for now," said Yuichi Ikemizu, Tokyo branch manager, ICBC Standard Bank. Spot silver was up 0.4 percent at $14.2 per ounce.
Platinum fell 1.1 percent to $782 while palladium rose 1.1 percent to $984.3. The global platinum market will be oversupplied by 295,000 ounces this year as both supply and demand of the autocatalyst metal fall by 2 percent, the World Platinum Investment Council (WPIC) said on Thursday.
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