Gold prices edged higher in European morning hours on Friday, but
gains were limited as demand for the greenback remained supported by
Thursday's jobless claims data and as markets eyed an upcoming report on
U.S. nonfarm payrolls.
On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold futures for June delivery were up 0.25% at $1,184.90. The June contract ended Thursday's session 0.68% lower at $1,182.20 an ounce. Futures were likely to find support at $1,168.40, the low from May 1 and resistance at $1,199.30, the high from May 5.
Silver futures for July delivery advanced 0.42% to $16.368 a troy ounce, while copper futures for July delivery eased up 0.09% to $2.921 a pound.
Growing speculation that policymakers in China will have to introduce further stimulus measures to jumpstart the economy supported copper prices in the recent session.
On Thursday the U.S. Department of Labor said that the number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits in the week ending May 2 rose by 3,000 to 265,000 from the previous week's total of 262,000 while analysts had expected initial jobless claims to rise by 18,000 to 280,000 last week. The news was salutary for the dollar.
Investors were now looking ahead to Friday's U.S. nonfarm payrolls report for further indications on the strength of the U.S. job market.
A strong U.S. nonfarm payrolls data was likely to bring forward expectations on when the Federal Reserve will begin to raise rates, while a weak number could weigh on the dollar by undermining the argument for an early rate increase.
Recent soft data has indicated that the economy of the United States has slowed since the start of the year prompting many investors to push back expectations on the timing of an initial rate hike by the Fed.
