By Gina Lee
Investing.com – Gold was down on Friday morning in Asia, hitting its lowest level in nearly three months and its worst week since late November 2020, with strengthening U.S. Treasury yields putting a dent in the non-yielding yellow metal’s appeal.
Gold futures were down 0.60% at $1,764.40 by 4:26 PM ET (1:36 AM GMT). They were at their lowest since Nov. 30, 2020 and prices have dropped 3% in the week to date.
Benchmark U.S. Treasury yields continued an upward trend, after hitting a near one-year peak earlier in the week. The dollar also looked set to end the week with gains, inching up on Friday.
Investors continued to digest an unexpected rise in U.S. jobless claims over the past week, a potential harbinger of a second consecutive month of languid job growth which overshadowed the recent decline in new COVID-19 cases.
However, the number of global COVID-19 cases topped the 110 million mark as of Feb. 19, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
Meanwhile, Swiss customs data released on Thursday said that monthly gold exports to India were at their highest since May 2019, although exports to China and Hong Kong remained at record lows.
Other precious metals also saw losses on Friday. Silver eased 0.6%, after falling over 1.8%, its worst level since mid-January 2021, in the week to date. Platinum slipped 0.7%, while headed towards its third consecutive weekly gain, and palladium dropped 0.3%.