NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Gold futures rose Friday for the first time in three sessions, poised for their first weekly gain in a month, as the U.S. dollar weakened after a worse-than-expected employment report.
The dollar fell against the euro and the British pound after the Labor Department reported the U.S. economy lost 240,000 jobs in October, compared with a 210,000 loss expected by economists. Dollar-denominated gold prices and the greenback tend to move in the opposite direction.
Gold for December delivery rose $5.80, or 0.8%, to $738 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The metal had lost $25 in the previous two sessions.
Gold is now set to end the week up for the first time since Oct. 10.
While the dollar's latest strength has been impressive, it "will again come under pressure once this period of massive global deleveraging is over," said Mark O'Byrne, executive director at Gold and Silver Investments.
In Friday's report, the Labor Department also said the U.S. unemployment rate jumped to a 14-year high of 6.5% last month. Economists surveyed by MarketWatch thought the jobless rate would rise to 6.3% from 6.1% in September.
Overall, a total of 1.18 million jobs have been lost so far this year, with 651,000 coming in just the past three months. See full story.
Investors are expecting the Federal Reserve to cut its key interest rate by 0.5% next month to spur economic growth and stem job losses. The Fed has already cut the rate by 0.5% last week. Both the Bank of England and the European Central Bank lowered their interest rates Thursday.
"Central banks are attempting to inflate their way out of a deflationary slump," said O'Byrne. Gold is often seen as a hedge against rising prices.
Spot trading
In gold spot trading, the London gold-fixing price -- used as a benchmark for gold for immediate delivery -- stood at $742 an ounce Friday morning local time, down $12.50 from Thursday afternoon.
Gold in the SPDR Gold Trust, the largest gold exchange-traded fund, remained at 749.21 tons Thursday, unchanged since Oct. 27, according to the latest data from the fund. Gold held by the fund hit a record high of 770.64 tons on Oct. 10.
The SPDR Gold Trust rose 0.6% to $72.71.
In other equities, the Amex Gold Bugs Index which tracks the share prices of major gold companies, increased 4.4% to 201.51.
IShares Gold Trust climbed 0.3% to $72.73, while the iShares Silver Trust ETF gained 0.7% to $9.98. The Market Vectors-Gold Miners ETF added 0.9% to $22.13.
Among mining companies, shares of Barrick Gold Corp. , the world's largest gold miner, rose 4.5% to $24.14, while Goldcorp Inc. advanced 5% to $22.12.
In other metals trading, December copper rose 0.6% to $1.7365 a pound.
December silver rose 0.5% to $10.10 an ounce, January platinum rose 1.9% to $854.50 an ounce, and December palladium added 2% to $227 an ounce.
