05/10/2019
Gold prices rose for a fourth straight session on Friday as worries about growth faltered by weak economic data from the United States, as investors awaited a key report on jobs that may boost expectations of the Federal Reserve (the US central bank) interest rates again.
By 05:25 GMT, spot gold rose 0.2 percent to $ 1507.93 an ounce. The precious metal rose to $ 1,518.50, its highest since September 25 in the previous session.
Gold futures settled at $ 1513.80 an ounce.
ANZ analyst Daniel Heinz said disappointing economic indicators from the United States over the past two days had supported the purchase of safe-haven assets.
"If we see weaker-than-expected non-farm payrolls data as well, this will support gold prices and the momentum will be very strong provided it is supported by the Federal Reserve's approach to monetary easing," he added.
A survey showed on Thursday that US service sector activity slowed to a three-year low in September amid mounting tariff concerns, following a series of weak economic data released earlier this week.
The attention now on the US non-farm payrolls at 12:30 GMT.
The dollar fell slightly against a basket of major currencies.
For other precious metals, platinum fell 0.7 percent to $ 884.11 an ounce, down more than 4 percent since the start of the week, putting it on track for the biggest weekly decline since May. Silver gained 0.2 percent to $ 17.58 an ounce.
Palladium rose 0.1 percent to $ 1,655.41 an ounce but is poised to post a weekly loss of 1.5 percent after rising for eight straight sessions.
