Gold Dips Below $4,600 An Ounce On Dollar Strength

(RTTNews) - Gold dipped from recent record highs to trade below $4,600 an ounce on Friday as strong jobless claims data coupled with cautious comments from several Federal Reserve officials prompted traders to pare rate-cut expectations.

Data showed U.S. jobless claims unexpectedly dropped to the lowest since November last week, defying economists' estimates.

Easing Iran-U.S. tensions also dented safe-haven demand for the precious metal. Spot gold dipped 0.4 percent to $4,599.74 an ounce while U.S. gold futures were down 0.4 percent at $4,604.39.

The dollar headed for a weekly gain on signs of continued labor market strength.

Helping ease trade tensions, the United States and Taiwan have reached a trade deal that lowers tariffs on Taiwanese goods from 20 percent to 15 percent in exchange for $250 billion investment to increase production of semiconductors, energy and artificial intelligence in the U.S. and $250 billion in credit guarantees.

Beyond the trade deal, traders await U.S. industrial production data as well as speeches from Fed officials later in the day for greater clarity on the economic, inflation and monetary policy outlook.

Currently, the CME FedWatch Tool gives a 62.5 percent chance of a Federal Reserve rate cut in June.

Five presidents of regional Fed banks on Thursday signaled a willingness to pause interest-rate cuts at the upcoming policy meeting, citing labour market strength.