By Gina Lee
Investing.com – Gold was down on Friday morning in Asia and was set to record its first weekly decline in three as U.S. Treasury yields rose.
Gold futures inched down 0.07% at $1,723.95 by 12:42 AM ET (4:42 AM GMT), after hitting a one-week low of $1,721.46 during the previous session. The yellow metal has lost over 1% for the week, with the dollar surpassing a four-month high on Thursday before inching down a day later.
Yields rose as there was lackluster demand during an auction of seven-year Treasury notes on Thursday. Some investors expressed concern that there could be another bond market sell-off within the next three months in light of the recent rout in financial markets.
On the data side, U.S. weekly jobless claims fell to a one-year low of 684,000, down from the 781,000 claims filed during the previous week and the 730,000 claims in forecasts prepared by Investing.com. Further data, including personal spending in February, is due later in the day.
Across the Atlantic, several countries in Europe entered COVID-19 restrictions to curb a third wave of cases. Germany, Europe's largest economy, abruptly reversed its plans for a strict Easter lockdown on Wednesday despite recording its biggest increase in COVID-19 cases since January 2021.
In other precious metals, silver inched up 0.1%, holding above an over two-month low of $24.39 per ounce hit on Thursday. Palladium edged up 0.2% while platinum inched down 0.1%.