Investing.com - Gold prices edged higher on Friday, as Thursday's disappointing U.S. data sparked fresh uncertainty over the timining of a rate hike by the Federal Reserve and continued to weigh on demand for the dollar.
On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold futures for June delivery were up 0.21% at $1,200.40.
The April contract ended Thursday's session 0.27% lower at $1,198.00 an ounce.
Futures were likely to find support at $1,183.50, the low from April 14 and resistance at $1,209.30, the high from April 13.
Gold futures strengthened after the U.S. Department of Labor reported on Thursday that the number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits increased by 12,000 to 294,000 last week from the previous week’s total of 282,000.
Analysts had expected initial jobless claims to fall by 2,000 to 280,000 last week.
Separately, the U.S. Commerce Department said that the number of building permits issued in March declined by 5.7% last month to 1.039 million units from February’s total of 1.102 million. Analysts expected building permits to fall by 2.0% to 1.080 million units in March.
The report also showed that U.S. housing starts rose by 2.0% in March to hit 926,000 units from February’s total of 908,000 units, below expectations for an increase of 15.9% to 1.040 million.
The weak data fuelled further speculation that the Federal Reserve could delay hiking interest rates until late 2015, instead of tightening midyear.
Also Thursday, the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia said that its manufacturing index improved to a four-month high of 7.5 this month from March’s reading of 5.0. Analysts had expected the index to rise to 6.0 in April.
Market participants were now eyeing data on U.S. consumer prices and consumer sentiment, due later in the day, for further indications on the strength of the economy.
Elsewhere in metals trading, silver futures for May delivery slipped 0.22% to $16.248 a troy ounce, while copper futures for May delivery dipped 0.04% to $2.773 a pound.
Copper prices remained supported amid speculation policymakers in China will have to introduce further stimulus measures to jumpstart the economy amid lackluster growth.
China is the world’s largest copper consumer, accounting for almost 40% of world consumption.