6th May 2018

 Gold finished higher on Friday and has been relatively firm over the last few days, but the stronger tone was still not enough to prevent a third consecutive weekly decline. Prices rose on the back of a slightly flattish dollar as the greenback’s upward momentum seems to have stalled on Friday, this after the US jobs data came out a touch weaker than expected. In this regard, although the unemployment rate dropped to near a 17-1/2-year low of 3.9%, average hourly earnings grew by four cents, less than expected and also less than the increase seen in March. Moreover, some of the decrease in the unemployment rate was attributable to a drop in labor force participation of those too discouraged to be looking for work and not necessarily to a surge in hiring.