WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Gold futures settled higher on Friday amid rising demand for the safe-haven asset following an escalation in the Russia-Ukraine conflict after Russia attacked and captured the neighboring country's major nuclear plant.
The Russian military, which scaled up its attack on Ukrainian cities on Friday, has reportedly taken control of Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, which is the largest nuclear power plant in Europe.
Gold prices climbed higher despite the dollar firming up against other major currencies after data showed a bigger than expected increase in U.S. non-farm payroll employment in February.
The dollar index surged up to 98.92, rising about 1.1%, before paring some gains.
Gold futures for April ended higher by $30.70 or about 1.6% at $1,966.60 an ounce.
Silver futures for May ended up by $0.577 at $25.789 an ounce, while Copper futures for May settled at $4.9375 per pound, gaining $0.1560.
Data from the Labor Department showed non-farm payroll employment in the U.S. spiked by 678,000 jobs in February after surging by an upwardly revised 481,000 jobs in January.
Economists had expected employment to increase by 400,000 jobs compared to the addition of 467,000 jobs originally reported for the previous month.
With the stronger than expected job growth, the unemployment rate dipped to 3.8% in February from 4% in January. The unemployment rate was expected to edge down to 3.9%.
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