Gold Heads Towards Worst Weekly Performance

Gold appears to be heading for its worst weekly performance in six weeks as of Friday, with investors awaiting a closely watched US jobs report, after a series of strong economic data this week pushed US Treasury yields to their highest levels in nine months. Spot gold rose 0.1% to $1,936.15 per ounce by 01:38 GMT. US gold futures increased by 0.2% to $1,971.70 per ounce. Gold prices have lost more than 1% since the beginning of this week and recorded their lowest levels since July 11 in the previous session. Long-term US Treasury yields rose to their highest levels since November on Thursday after employment data and other economic indicators suggested easing inflation. The attractiveness of gold, which does not yield any returns, diminishes as bond yields rise. Silver increased 0.2% in spot transactions to $23.6 per ounce, while platinum rose 0.3% to $917.29. Both metals are set to incur losses for the third consecutive week. Palladium increased by 0.2% to $1,260.65 per ounce.