Gold eased on Friday, but was on track to post its third consecutive weekly gain on growing expectations for additional stimulus measures in the United States.

FUNDAMENTALS

Spot gold fell 0.2% to $1,881.65 per ounce by 0107 GMT, but was up 2.3% so far this week. US gold futures dipped 0.1% to $1,887.90.

US Congressional Republicans and Democrats scrambled to pass a new round of coronavirus aid on Thursday with lawmakers from both parties saying that failure to agree was no longer an option.

An unrelenting US coronavirus surge pushed hospitals further to their limits as the United States pressed on with its immunization rollouts and prepared to ship nearly six million doses of a new vaccine on the cusp of winning regulatory approval.

A panel of outside advisers to a US regulator overwhelmingly endorsed emergency use of Moderna Inc's coronavirus vaccine.

US weekly initial jobless claims unexpectedly rose last week.

The Bank of Japan is expected to extend on Friday a package of steps aimed at easing corporate funding strains caused by the coronavirus.

Awaiting the outcome of EU and UK trade talks, the Bank of England kept its stimulus unchanged on Thursday.

Holdings in the SPDR Gold Trust, the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, fell 0.2% to 1,167.82 tonnes on Thursday.

Silver slipped 1% to $25.79 per ounce an ounce. Platinum dropped 0.8% to $1,035.91 and palladium fell 0.2% to $2,335.04.