By Rahul Paswan
(Reuters) – Gold prices edged higher on Friday but were headed for a second straight week of decline as market participants braced for U.S. payrolls data that is expected to provide cues on the Federal Reserve’s interest rate cut trajectory.
Spot gold was up 0.2% to $2,638.45 per ounce by 0627 GMT, while U.S. gold futures added 0.5% to $2,660.50.
Bullion is down about 0.5% so far this week, after hitting its lowest since Nov. 26 earlier in the session.
“I think this is just the market positioning ahead of some important data (U.S. Payrolls),” said Nicholas Frappell, global head of institutional markets at ABC Refinery.
The U.S. payrolls report, due at 1330 GMT, will likely show that non-farm payrolls increased by 200,000 jobs in November after rising by 12,000 in October.
Fed Chair Jerome Powell on Wednesday said the U.S. economy was stronger than it had appeared in September, when the central bank began cutting rates, allowing policymakers to potentially be a little more cautious in reducing rates further.
Markets still see a 70.1% chance of a 25-basis-point cut at the U.S. central bank’s Dec. 17-18 meeting, according to the CME Group’s FedWatch Tool.
“For December, support is around $2,550 and resistance is at $2,700 (for gold). Undertone will be bearish for a couple of weeks as we expect profit booking due to a massive rally this year,” said Jigar Trivedi, a senior analyst at Reliance Securities.
Safe-haven gold has gained more than 27% so far this year, after hitting several record highs through the year on the back of Fed’s rate easing and escalated geo-political tensions.
Spot silver steadied at $31.35 per ounce, but is up more than 2% for the week.
Platinum gained 0.3% to $940.94 and palladium rose 1.2% to $974.46. Both are set for their second straight week of losses.
(Reporting by Rahul Paswan in Bengaluru; Editing by Sumana Nandy and Eileen Soreng)
