Gold heads to record its best performance in 9 weeks

Gold prices are heading on Friday to achieve their largest weekly gains in nine weeks, with the decline in the dollar and US Treasury bond yields, while traders await important data on US jobs scheduled to be released later in the day to obtain indications of when the Federal Reserve could begin… Reducing interest rates.

According to Reuters, by 0550 GMT, gold in spot transactions rose 0.1% to $2,056 per ounce. It rose about 2% since the beginning of the week, heading for the best weekly gain since early December.

US gold futures rose to $2,073.40.

“The Federal Reserve cutting interest rates in March is unlikely, but the market is confident that it will start lowering interest rates after that,” said Brian Lan of Gold Silver Central in Singapore. “The comments were positive for gold.”

Low interest rates enhance the demand for gold, which does not generate a return.

The price of gold in spot transactions rose about 1 percent on Thursday after data from the US Department of Labor showed that applications submitted for the first time for unemployment benefits increased more than expected last week.

A separate report showed that US worker productivity grew faster than expected in the fourth quarter.

Investors’ focus will shift to US nonfarm payrolls data, scheduled for release at 1330 GMT.

Concerns about the regional banking sector in the United States have increased demand for safe haven assets such as gold and Treasury bonds.