The price of gold was extending its six-month low Friday morning, with the euro trading weak as traders await cues from the G20 meeting.
Gold for April delivery, the most actively traded contract, shed $8.50 to $1,627.00 an ounce. Yesterday, gold settled at a fresh 6-month low as the dollar strengthened against some major currencies on some weak GDP data from the euro zone, indicating the economy to be in deep recession. Investors also weighed a lull in demand for the precious metal in China with the New Year holidays in progress. On a positive note, a World Gold Council report showed demand for the precious metal in the fourth quarter was the highest in six quarters.
Holdings of SPDR Gold Trust, the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, edged down to 1,322.97 tons from 1,325.99 tons.
Meanwhile, the U.S. dollar was hovering around its 3-week high versus the euro and extending its 6-month high against sterling. The buck was hovering around its two-and half year high versus the yen and ticking higher against the Swiss franc.
In economic news, euro zone's trade surplus declined in December from a month earlier, the latest figures published by Eurostat revealed. The surplus fell to EUR 11.7 billion in December from a revised EUR 13 billion in the previous month. Economists expected the surplus to fall to EUR 13.1 billion from November's originally estimated EUR 13.7 billion.
U.K. retail sales including auto fuel fell unexpectedly by 0.6 percent in January from the prior month, the Office for National Statistics said. Economists had forecast a 0.5 percent rise, following a 0.3 percent drop in December.
The prices of silver and platinum were moving lower in morning deals.
From the U.S., the New York Federal Reserve is scheduled to release the results of its manufacturing survey at 8:30 am ET. The general business conditions index based on the survey is expected to improve to -1.75 in February from -7.8 in January.
