Gold hovered near $1,590 an ounce on Friday as upbeat US labour data added to evidence of an economic recovery that makes safe-haven assets like the precious metal less attractive. But prices were headed for a second straight week of gains as some investors remained loyal to gold, counting quantitative easing measures in key economies and lurking risks in the euro zone among reasons to own bullion - a hedge against rising inflation outlook and economic distress.
"It is a global trend that the value of paper money is diminishing, which attracts investors to gold, a hard asset," said Li Ning, an analyst at Shanghai CIFCO Futures. Spot gold inched up 0.1 percent to $1,592.05 an ounce by 0548 GMT, on course for a weekly gain of 0.9 percent. US gold was nearly flat at $1,591.00. Technical analysis suggested spot gold looks neutral in a range of $1,575-$1,599 an ounce, and an escape will point a future direction, Reuters market analyst Wang Tao said.