After moving sharply higher early in the session, the price of gold gave back ground over the course of the trading day on Friday but managed to close modestly higher.<\/p>\n
Gold for December delivery inched up $5.70 or 0.3 percent to $1,999.20 an ounce after reaching a high of $2,011.90 an ounce.<\/p>\n
The uptick by the precious metal came amid a steep drop in the value of the U.S. dollar, with the U.S. dollar index tumbling by 1.1 percent to its lowest levels in well over a month.<\/p>\n
The plunge by the dollar and subsequent increase by the price of gold came after the Labor Department released a report showing U.S. employment rose by less than expected in the month of October.<\/p>\n
The closely watched report said employment climbed by 150,000 jobs in October after jumping by a downwardly revised 297,000 jobs in September.<\/p>\n
Economists had expected employment to increase by 180,000 jobs compared to the surge of 336,000 jobs originally reported for the previous month.<\/p>\n
The Labor Department also said the unemployment rate crept up to 3.9 percent in October from 3.8 percent in September. The unemployment rate was expected to remain unchanged.<\/p>\n
The data added to optimism the Federal Reserve is done raising interest rates after the central bank left rates unchanged for the third time in four meetings earlier this week.<\/p>\n
However, the price of gold once again had difficulty holding above the $2,000 an ounce level and pulled back well of its highs as the day progressed.<\/p>\n
“This is clearly a big psychological barrier and momentum indicators suggest it may be a struggle at this time,” said Craig Erlam, senior market analyst at OANDA. <\/p>\n
He added, “There’s been a lot of positive economic data and Fed commentary recently and if that hasn’t been enough to deliver a significant breakout, you have to question whether the rally of the last month has run its course.” <\/p>\n