WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Gold futures settled higher on Friday, but recorded a second straight weekly decline, as investors weighed the likely interest rate moves by the Federal Reserve in the wake of the most recent set of economic data, including U.S. private sector and non-farm payroll employment reports.
Gold prices climbed higher on safe-haven appeal due to the ongoing tensions in the Middle East and the Russia - Ukraine war.
A stronger dollar limited the yellow metal's upside. The dollar index climbed to 106.12, gaining nearly 0.4%, on stronger than expected U.S. non-farm payroll data.
Gold futures for December closed up $12.00 or about 0.46% at 2,638.60 an ounce. Gold futures shed about 0.7% in the week.
Silver futures for December closed higher by $0.052 or 0.17% at $31.186 an ounce. For the week, silver futures gained about 1.63%.
Copper futures for December climbed to $4.1380 per pound, gaining $0.0030 or 0.07%.
Data from the Labor Department showed that non-farm payroll employment shot up by 227,000 jobs in November after rising by an upwardly revised 36,000 jobs in October.
Economists had expected employment to jump by 200,000 jobs compared to the uptick of 12,000 jobs originally reported for the previous month.
Meanwhile, the report said the unemployment rate crept up to 4.2% in November from 4.1% in October. The modest increase matched economist estimates.
Market participants currently expect the Fed to lower rates by another 25 basis points at the December meeting, but there remains considerable uncertainty about the likelihood of continued rate cuts at future meetings.
A report released by the University of Michigan showed consumer sentiment in the U.S. improved by slightly more than anticipated in the month of December. The University of Michigan said its consumer sentiment index climbed to 74.0 in December from 71.8 in November. Economists had expected the index to rise to 73.0.
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