PHOTO
Gold bars are pictured at the Ginza Tanaka store in Tokyo October 23, 2009. Issei Kato, Reuters
Gold prices looked set to post their worst week in six on Friday as investors braced for a closely watched U.S. jobs report after a string of solid economic data this week drove Treasury yields to nine-month highs.
FUNDAMENTALS
* Spot gold was up 0.1% at $1,936.15 per ounce by 0138 GMT, while U.S. gold futures rose 0.2% to $1,971.70 per ounce.
* Gold prices have declined more than 1% so far this week, having slipped to their lowest level since July 11 in the last session.
* U.S. long-term Treasury yields climbed to their highest since November on Thursday after employment and other economic data pointed to easing inflation.
* Rising bond yields dampen the appeal of gold, which pays no interest.
* Data on Thursday showed the number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits rose slightly last week, while layoffs dropped to an 11-month low in July as labour market conditions remained tight.
* The Bank of England raised its key interest rate by a quarter of a percentage point to a 15-year peak on Thursday, its 14th back-to-back increase, and warned that borrowing costs were likely to stay high for some time.
* The downturn in euro zone business activity worsened more than initially thought in July as the slump in manufacturing was accompanied by a further slowing of growth in the bloc's dominant services industry, a survey showed.
* European Central Bank board member Fabio Panetta made the case on Thursday for keeping the ECB's interest rates at their current high level for longer.
* China's central bank governor pledged on Thursday to guide more financial resources towards the private economy.
* Spot silver gained 0.2% to $23.6 per ounce and platinum rose 0.3% to $917.29. Both were set for third consecutive weekly losses.
* Palladium was up 0.2% at $1,260.65.
DATA/EVENTS (GMT) 0600 Germany Industrial Orders MM June 0600 Germany Manufacturing O/P Cur Price SA June 0600 Germany Consumer Goods SA June 1230 US Non-Farm Payrolls July 1230 US Unemployment Rate July (Reporting by Swati Verma in Bengaluru; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)