Investing.com– Gold prices rose in Asian trade on Friday, extending recent gains as the dollar retreated before key nonfarm payrolls data that is expected to provide more cues on interest rates.
The yellow metal was sitting on some gains this week after a swathe of weak U.S. economic data pushed up bets that the Federal Reserve will begin cutting interest rates by September.
Spot gold rose 0.3% to $2,363.61 an ounce, while gold futures expiring in August rose 0.3% to $2,371.56 an ounce by 01:05 ET (05:05 GMT).
Gold buoyed by rate cut bets, payrolls data awaited
Spot gold prices were set to add 1.6% this week, and were trading about $100 away from a record high, as they benefited from increased bets on a September rate cut. Soft U.S. employment and business activity data weighed on the dollar.
The CME Fedwatch tool showed traders pricing in an over 66% chance the Federal Reserve will cut rates by 25 basis points in September.
But optimism over rate cuts was somewhat tempered by hawkish signals from the Fed, with the minutes of the bank’s June meeting showing policymakers remained skeptical towards cutting rates.
Nonfarm payrolls data is also set to provide more definitive cues on the labor market, which has also been a key point of contention for the Fed in reducing interest rates.
Lower rates bode well for gold and other precious metals, given that they increase their appeal in comparison to investing in debt or the dollar.
Other precious metals rose tracking this notion, and were also set for weekly gains. Platinum futures rose 0.2% on Friday and were up marginally this week, while silver futures vastly outperformed their precious metal peers this week and were set for an over 4% bounce.
Copper set for weekly gains after steep losses in June
Among industrial metals, copper prices rose on Friday and were set for a positive end to the first week of July, after clocking steep losses in June.
Benchmark copper futures on the London Metal Exchange rose 0.3% to $9,913.50 a tonne, while one-month copper futures rose 0.3% to $4.5777 a pound.
Both contracts were up between 3% and 4% this week, as they recovered a measure of steep losses in June.
But sentiment towards copper remained largely on edge amid growing doubts over an economic recovery in top importer China. European trade tariffs on China’s electric vehicle exports also took effect from Friday, even as Beijing threatened to start a trade war with the West.
