By Alfred Romann
Investing.com - Gold was up on Friday morning in Asia as the U.S. dollar steadied and U.S. stock markets tumbled during the previous session.
Gold futures were up 0.30% to $1,943.40 by 11:55 PM ET (03:56 AM GMT). Still, futures are down from a day earlier, when they peaked at $1,955.90.
The small rise in gold happened in tandem with a flattening in the fall of the U.S. dollar, which has recovered somewhat against major currencies as a result of a poor economic outlook and expectations that the U.S. Federal Reserve will keep benchmark interest rates low for years. The expectation of low rates is supporting of gold, which pays no interest or dividends.
Concerns over a flattening U.S. labor market are also creating uncertainty and supporting gold. Keeping a lid on prices, however, is a resurgence in U.S. business activity. Big drops in U.S. stock markets on Thursday, including an 800-point plunge in the DOW Jones Industrial Average, and losses in all the major technology stocks helped shore up gold prices.
Gold, a safe-haven popular during times of social and economic uncertainty, has seen substantial price increases since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic with prices topping out above $2,072 in August.