By Gina Lee
Investing.com – Gold was up on Friday morning in Asia, but was set for a second consecutive weekly decline. Investors now await the U.S. Federal Reserve’s next monetary policy move.
Gold futures were up 0.25% to $1,756.72 by 12:50 AM ET (4:50 AM GMT), and the yellow metal is down 0.5% so far for the week. The dollar, which normally moves inversely to gold, inched down on Friday but remained close to a four-month high hit earlier in the week.
The latest U.S. economic data, released on Thursday, said the producer price index grew 1% month-on-month in July, the largest annual increase in more than a decade.
However, the consumer price index released the day before suggested that inflationary pressures are peaking, rising a lower-than-expected 0.3% month-on-month in July. This boosted hopes that the Fed would not begin asset tapering or hike interest rates earlier than expected.
With Fed officials expressing diverging opinions throughout the week on the timetable for a tighter monetary policy, investors remained concerns that inflationary pressures could push the Fed to pull the trigger.
Meanwhile, the U.S. data also said that 375,000 initial jobless claims were filed throughout the week, with the number lower than the 387,000 claims filed during the previous week.
In other precious metals, silver edged up 0.2%, while platinum edged down 0.2% and palladium eased 0.3% to $2,616.80.