(RTTNews) - The price of gold was extending losses for a fifth session Friday morning as the U.S. dollar was generally steady ahead of employment data.
Gold for June delivery, the most actively traded contract, shed $2.60 to $1,632.20 an ounce. Yesterday, gold ended sharply lower as the dollar continued to strengthen and investors weighing some upbeat U.S. jobs claims data that reduces chances for any further quantitative easing.
Holdings of SPDR Gold Trust, the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, were unchanged at 1,274.09 tons.
Meanwhile, the U.S. dollar was steady near its two-week high versus the euro and the Swiss franc, while trading flat against sterling. The buck continued to bounce back from its 2-month low versus the yen.
In economic news, euro zone private sector activity declined in April at the fastest rate since October 2011, final data released by Markit showed. The composite output index dropped to 46.7 in April from 49.1 in March. The headline index also came in well below its earlier flash estimate of 47.4
Meanwhile, data from the Eurostat revealed that retail sales volume in the euro zone climbed 0.3 percent month-on-month in March, offsetting February's 0.2 percent drop. Economists were expecting sales to remain flat in March. Sales were down 0.2 percent on a yearly basis. The rate of decline slowed from the 2.1 percent drop seen in February. Also, March's drop was smaller than the 1.1 percent fall forecast by economists.
Elsewhere, the prices of silver and platinum were ticking lower in morning deals.
From the U.S., the Labor Department is scheduled to release its monthly non-farm payroll report at 8:30 am ET. Economists expect non-farm payrolls for April to increase by 165,000 and the unemployment rate to remain unchanged at 8.2 percent. In March, the economy added 120,000 jobs, far below the 200,000 job additions forecast by economists.
