By Gina Lee
Investing.com – Gold was up on Friday morning in Asia and was set to record a third consecutive weekly gain, as the dollar weakened and U.S. Treasury yields fell.
Gold futures edged up 0.17% to $1,785.05 by 12:59 AM ET (4:59 AM GMT).
The benchmark 10-year Treasury Yield fell as investors weighed reports that U.S. president Joe Biden could almost double the tax on capital gains to 39.6% for those earning more than $1 million a year, which will fund about $1 trillion in childcare, universal pre-kindergarten education and paid leave for workers.
U.S. initial jobless claims hit a 13-month low of 547,000 claims during the past week. Forecasts prepared by Investing.com had predicted 617,000 claims while 586,000 claims were filed during the previous week.
On the central bank front, European Central Bank (ECB) President Christine Lagarde warned that expectations of tapering of bond purchases are premature as ECB handed down its policy decision on Thursday.
U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell is widely expected to reiterate this message when the Fed hands down its own decision the following week.
In Central Asia, the Central Bank of the Republic of Uzbekistan will not sell gold until it perceives that prices are peaking, its deputy governor Behzod Khamraev told Reuters.
Meanwhile, Switzerland’s March gold exports hit their highest level in over 10 months, largely thanks to the highest number of shipments to India since 2013, according to Swiss customs data.
In other precious metals, palladium inched up 0.1% but remained below a record $2,891.50 hit on Thursday. However, many investors expect a further run towards $3,000 per ounce as automakers increase purchases of the metal and worsen a supply shortage. Silver was down 0.3% and platinum was little changed at $1,203.10.