Investing.com - Gold prices traded near flat on Friday in Asia as traders remained cautious after the U.S. Federal Reserve's decision to keep interest rate decision unchanged.
Gold futures for June delivery, traded on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, was largely unchanged at $1,272.85 per ounce.
The yellow metal recorded its biggest one-day percentage decline in more than two weeks on Thursday as the Federal Reserve hit hopes of a near-term rate cut that would have been supportive to non-interest bearing bullion.
The Federal Open Market Committee, the Fed's interest-rate-making body, kept the benchmark interest rate unchanged, in line with the market's expectations.
But what sent gold prices lower was the central bank's emphasis that it saw no compelling reason to consider a rate cut any time soon, citing rising employment and economic growth.
"We do think our policy stance is appropriate right now. We don't see a strong case for moving in either direction," Powell said during a news conference after the central bank's policy meeting.
From here, all eyes turn to April's U.S. jobs report and the non-farm payroll data, which are due later in the day stateside.
Meanwhile, a report by the World Gold Council received some attention as it said First-quarter gold purchases by central banks, led by Russia and China, were the highest in six years.
"We've seen a continuation of the strong demand from central banks," said Alistair Hewitt, head of market intelligence at the World Gold Council, in a Bloomberg report, which noted that central bank purchases have been a key support for the precious metal.
"We're expecting another good year for central bank purchases, although I'll be pleasantly surprised if they are to match the level seen in 2018," said Hewitt.