The price of gold was steady near its 3-month high Friday morning as the U.S. dollar continued to trade weak ahead of key jobs data, due out later today.
Gold for April delivery, the most actively traded contract, edged up $1.30 to $1,760.60 an ounce. Yesterday gold ended at an eleven-week high, mostly due to a weak dollar and continued euro zone concerns.
Holdings of SPDR Gold Trust, the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, moved up to 1,277.13 tons from 1,271.09 tons.
This morning, the U.S. dollar was lingering near its weekly low versus the euro and extending its 2-month low against sterling. The buck was lingering around its 3-month low versus the yen and ticking lower against the Swiss franc.
In economic news, euro zone retail sales fell 0.4 percent month-on month in December, Eurostat reported. Economists were expecting turnover to expand 0.3 percent. In 2011, the average volume of retail trade index fell by 0.6 percent. On a yearly basis, retail sales decreased 1.6 percent in December, following November's revised 1.5 percent drop. The decline also exceeded the 1.3 percent fall expected by economists.
Elsewhere, the prices of silver and platinum were ticking higher in morning deals.
From the U.S., the Labor Department will release the monthly non-farm payrolls report at 8:30 a.m. ET. Economists expect non-farm payrolls for January to increase by 135,000, while expect the unemployment rate to remain unchanged at 8.5 percent.
Later during the session, the Institute for Supply Management is scheduled to release the results of its non-manufacturing survey. The non-manufacturing index is likely to show a reading of 53.3 for January after rising to 52.6 in December.
Additionally, the Commerce Department is due to release its report on factory goods orders for December. Economists estimate a 1.5 percent increase in orders for factory goods after durable goods orders rose a better than expected 3 percent in the month.
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Market Analysis
June 12, 2026 17:14 ET Major central bank action was the focus this week in economic news. The European Central Bank became the first major central bank to move in response to the rising inflationary pressures in the backdrop of the conflict in the Middle East. In North America, the U.S. inflation and trade data as well as Canada’s central bank decision gained attention. The Chinese trade data was the main news in Asia.