WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Following the pullback seen in the previous session, the price of gold saw further downside during trading on Friday.
As the U.S. unemployment rate remained stable, the underlying job market resilience worked against the safe-haven metal on Friday. The U.S. dollar gained ground against major currencies.
Gold for June delivery fell $28.00 or 0.8 percent to $3322.70 an ounce, off by 2.6 percent from its 52-week high of $3411.40 an ounce, which it hit on May 6th. On a weekly basis, though it ended 1.0 percent higher.
Today, silver for June delivery gained 33.60 cents or 0.9 percent to reach $36.025, trading at a new 52-week high.
Data from US Labor Department revealed that the non-farm payrolls increased by 139,000 jobs in May, above the forecast of 130,000. Though the data reveals a slowdown in job growth, the labor market remains relatively robust.
Average hourly earnings have shot up by 3.9 percent year-over-year in May, exceeding expectations of 3.7 percent. These data are crucial in the backdrop of the ongoing trade war due to recent U.S. tariff policies.
Meanwhile, the US unemployment rate held steady at 4.2 percent in May for a second straight month, meeting analysts' expectations.
Federal Reserve policymakers have reaffirmed over the past few days that they would need more data before taking a concrete call on interest rate cuts. The Fed is currently adopting a wait-and-watch approach.
On the diplomatic front, a much-anticipated call between President Donald Trump with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping was followed by Trump's statement in his social media platform that he had a very good call.
However, after the highly anticipated telephone call, markets have not received any further clarity on future events on U.S.-China negotiations.
As gold is considered a hedge against inflation and geopolitical uncertainty, events in the coming weeks involving tariff deals could charter the course of gold prices.
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