Gold prices rose on Friday and were headed for a weekly gain as a retreat in the dollar has propped up bullion in the run-up to data on US jobs growth, which is expected to have slowed sharply in January.

Spot gold was up 0.3% at $1,810.01 per ounce by 1146 GMT. US gold futures climbed 0.4% to $1,811.30.

Gold is set to gain over 1% this week as the dollar faced its worst weekly decline in nearly two years, making the bullion cheaper for overseas buyers.

The US Labour Department will publish its closely watched employment report at 1330 GMT.

"If the number is a big miss, it would suggest that the labour market is not as solid as the Fed anticipated and it may lead to an even softer US dollar and that could be positive for gold," said Margaret Yang, a strategist at DailyFX.

Gold back above $1,800-mark on firmer investment demand

"The Fed tightening cycle is overriding gold's inflation hedge character, so we are seeing that it is trading in a tight range for the last couple of months."

Gold is considered a hedge against inflation, but interest rate hikes would weigh on the non-yielding asset.

Gold prices have been trading around $1,800 an ounce level since slipping to a 1-1/2-month low last week after Fed signalled an interest rate hike in March to fight inflation.

"There's an area of resistance between $1,810-$1,825 which needs to be taken out and can really only be achieved if we see some additional dollar weakness," said Saxo Bank analyst Ole Hansen.

The inflationary pressures are not going away anytime soon, so there is very limited reason for selling gold, especially considering how well it managed to withstand the recent spike in yields, Hansen added.

Among other metals, silver rose 0.5% to $22.51 per ounce, platinum fell 1.6% to $1,016.92 and palladium rose 1% to $2,349.12.