By Gina Lee
Investing.com – Gold was up on Thursday morning in Asia but is on track for a third consecutive weekly loss. The U.S. dollar and Treasury yields both rallied over the U.S. Federal Reserve’s hawkish stance, and investors are now awaiting the latest U.S. jobs report.
Gold futures inched up 0.01% to $1,875.84 by 1:18 AM ET (5:18 AM GMT), with the yellow metal sliding around 1% in the week to date.
The dollar, which normally moves inversely to gold, inched down on Friday but was headed for a fifth winning week. Benchmark U.S. Treasury yields resumed a climb after hitting their highest level since November 2018 in the previous session.
Investors now await the latest U.S. jobs report, including non-farm payrolls, which is due later in the day.
“I would not be surprised to see another above-consensus wage print, and this may not be good for bullion as the market would read those tea leaves as a sign of improving the odds for a 75 bp point hike at the July Fed meeting,” SPI Asset Management managing partner Stephen Innes told Reuters.
The Fed on Wednesday hiked its interest rate to 1%, and the Bank of England followed by raising its interest rate to 1% a day later.
In equities, Asian shares fell as investors are concerned that rising interest rates could hurt global economic growth.
With the market back into selling everything mode, it seems like “don’t fight the Fed is back in play,” said Innes.
In other precious metals, silver fell 0.5% to $22.38 per ounce and set for a third consecutive weekly decline. Platinum slid 2.7% and palladium fell 0.6%.