(RTTNews) – Gold rose towards $4,200 an ounce on Friday and headed for its first weekly rise in five on easing Fed rate hike bets.
Spot gold jumped 1.3 percent to $4,177 an ounce while U.S. gold futures surged 1.6 percent to $4,189.84.
The U.S. dollar was on track for its biggest weekly drop in nearly three months as soft U.S. jobs data spurred traders to pare rate hike bets.
Overnight data showed U.S. jobs growth slowed sharply in June, and the two prior months’ data were revised lower, raising expectations that the Fed will hold rates this month and potentially in September.
The June jobs report also challenged the narrative that the Fed may hike rates in the second half of this year.
Elsewhere, the eurozone is getting closer to price stability after inflation in the region cooled down in June. There is now reduced emergency for immediate action and investors see only a one-in-three chance of a July hike.
On the geopolitical front, U.S. President Donald Trump said in an interview with CNBC that talks with Iran are moving forward and that Tehran has agreed to “just about everything we need.”
Trump claimed that Iran will buy U.S. agricultural products as part of a potential peace agreement to end the war – a statement that Iran has refuted.
Meanwhile, Iran’s main military command, Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters said that the Strait of Hormuz is not the “aggressive U.S. playground” and that any U.S. interference in the vital waterway will be met with a “decisive and swift” response.
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