Gold was flat, trading in a narrow $5-range on Friday, as worries over a global surge in coronavirus infections and lingering trade tension between the United States and China overshadowed strong US jobs data.
Spot gold was mostly unchanged at $1,775.35 per ounce by 0647 GMT. US markets are closed on Friday ahead of Independence Day on July 4.
US gold futures eased 0.3 per cent to $1,785.
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“Nagging doubts appear to remain in investors’ minds about the explosion of COVID-19 cases in the US sunbelt states and its possible negative effect on the recovery going forward,” said Jeffrey Halley, a senior market analyst at OANDA.
The United States reported more than 55,000 new infections on Thursday, a new daily global record in the pandemic that has infected more than 10.89 million people worldwide.
“Geopolitical considerations are also to the fore… with a holiday in the United States, and the weekend upon us, some haven-directed buying of gold is definitely evident,” Halley added.
Markets also kept a wary eye on China’s trade relations with the United States.
More than 75 members of the US Congress sent a letter to President Donald Trump urging him to make a formal determination of whether China’s treatment of Muslim Uighurs and other groups constituted an atrocity.
Indicative of sentiment, holdings of SPDR Gold Trust, rose 0.8 per cent to 1,191.47 tonnes on Thursday.
Stemming bullion’s advance, better-than-expected US jobs reports lifted sentiment in wider financial markets.
The US economy created jobs at a record clip in June, but 31.5 million Americans were collecting unemployment checks in the middle of the month.
Palladium fell 0.4 per cent to $1,893.12 per ounce, while platinum rose 0.8{b1ee4ac4d8d7b8e1af61a560a11ca52574b8103b547ccac8037ce0cdf9e7ba58} to $809.50, set for its first weekly gain in six.
Silver gained 0.4 per cent to $17.97, heading for its fourth consecutive weekly gain.
Also Read | Gold hits one-month high as fears over rising coronavirus cases lift demand
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