SINGAPORE: Gold was trading in a tight range on Friday after strong US jobs and manufacturing data stoked lingering concerns about an imminent pull-back in the Federal Reserve's stimulus measures.
The number of Americans filing new claims for jobless benefits last week held near a six-year low and US manufacturing activity rose this month, suggesting the economy is starting to find a firmer footing.
Market expectations that the Fed could start scaling back its massive stimulus programme as early as September helped push the dollar and US Treasury yields higher, weighing on gold.
"A stronger dollar is discouraging some demand," said Ronald Leung at dealer and refiner Lee Cheong Gold Dealers in Hong Kong. "Demand is very quiet now but it could pick up if prices fall below $1,350."
Spot gold fell 0.04 percent to $1,374.64 an ounce by 0209 GMT. It is headed for a small loss for the week after a 5 percent gain last week.
The minutes of a Fed meeting released earlier this week did not provide any clear signs of when the US central bank would begin tapering its $85 billion monthly bond purchases. The fear of a scale back, along with fund outflows, has hit gold prices by almost 20 percent this year.
Primary dealers surveyed before the Fed's July policy meeting said they expected the US central bank to trim its asset purchases by $15 billion starting in September.
The US economy can withstand a reduction in the Fed's stimulative asset-purchase program, a top central bank official said on Thursday.
Comments
Comments are closed.