Gold ends below $1,700 for first time since June, logs weekly loss

Gold prices closed lower on Friday, as the US dollar rose against its counterparts, and posted a weekly loss due to high US Treasury bond yields.

The US Labor Department revealed that the US economy has added 379,000 jobs during, better than forecasts of adding 197,000 new jobs.

The unemployment rate was at 6.2%, better than forecasts and the previous reading of 6.3%.

The yield of 10-year US Treasury bonds rose to 1.6%, which foreshadows more pressure on stocks.

The dollar index rose against a basket of major currencies by 0.4% to 91.9 points as of 21:18 GMT, after hitting a high of 92.1 points and a low of 91.6 points.

Gold April futures fell 0.1% or $2.2, and closed at $1,698.4 an ounce, the first time to close below the $1700 barrier since June 2020, and posted a weekly loss of 1.7%.