FUNDAMENTALS
Spot gold was steady at $1,814.33 per ounce by 0028 GMT, after hitting its highest since Feb. 16 at $1,817.90 in the previous session.
U.S. gold futures were down 0.1% at $1,814.30 per ounce.
The dollar index slipped to a one-week low against its rival, making gold less expensive for other currency holders.
Benchmark U.S. 10-year Treasury yields hovered close to a two-week low. Lower bond yields reduce the opportunity cost of holding non-interest bearing gold.
Markets await U.S. monthly jobs report scheduled for release at 08:30 a.m. EST on Friday. Economists expect 978,000 new U.S. jobs for April, according to a Reuters poll.
Data on Thursday showed the number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits fell below 500,000 last week for the first since the COVID-19 pandemic started more than a year ago.
The economic outlook is brightening but more improvements are needed before the Federal Reserve will start to scale back monetary support, Cleveland Fed Bank President Loretta Mester said on Thursday.
Palladium eased 0.1% to $2,942.82 per ounce, moving further away from an all-time high of $3,017.18 hit earlier this week.
Silver edged 0.1% lower to $27.26 per ounce, while platinum was steady at $1,252.41.
DATA/EVENTS (GMT)
0145 China Caixin Services PMI April
0600 Germany Industrial Output MM March
0645 France Reserve Assets Total April
1230 US Non-Farm Payrolls April
1230 US Unemployment Rate April N/A China Exports, Imports YY April N/A China Trade Balance April
