WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Gold ticked higher toward $4,000 an ounce on Friday as the dollar dipped after the release of soft U.S. labor market data.
Spot gold jumped 0.9 percent to $4,011.59 an ounce amid the ongoing U.S. government shutdown and skepticism from Supreme Court justices on the Trump's tariff case. U.S. gold futures were up 0.7 percent at $4,019.56.
The dollar weakened after touching a four-month high in the previous session as cautious comments from several Federal Reserve officials tempered rate-cut hopes.
Fed Cleveland President Beth Hammack said on Thursday ongoing high levels of inflation is a bigger risk than job weakness.
Her Chicago counterpart Austan Goolsbee has expressed hesitation about continuing with interest rate cuts.
Governor Michael Barr stated that progress has been made on inflation, but further work remains to be done.
Fed St. Louis President Alberto Musalem warned of inflation risks and said that this year's interest-rate cuts have been appropriate.
Meanwhile, the Federal Aviation Administration has ordered airlines to cut thousands of flights starting today as the U.S. government shutdown enters Day 37, the longest on record.
It is not clear when the budget stand-off between Republican and Democratic lawmakers in Congress will end.
The shutdown means the Federal Reserve is reliant on unofficial figures heading into its December rate decision.
A survey from Challenger, Gray & Christmas showed on Thursday that last month was the worst October for U.S. layoffs since 2003 as companies cut jobs and imposed hiring freezes.
It was said that employers announced 153,074 job cuts in October, up 183 percent from the 54,064 job cuts announced in September and up 175 percent from the 55,597 cuts announced in the same month a year ago.
U.S. firms terminated 1.09m roles during the first 10 months of this year, up 44 percent from the 761,358 cuts in 2024 and marking the highest level of year-to-date job cuts since 2020.
Separate data from Revelio Labs indicated that U.S. nonfarm payrolls decreased by 9,100 in October, compared to an increase of 33,000 in the previous month.
Looking ahead, a preliminary reading on U.S. consumer sentiment for November may attract attention later in the day.
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