By Polya Lesova, MarketWatch FRANKFURT (MarketWatch) -- Gold futures traded marginally higher on Friday, as investors awaited a government report on U.S. nonfarm payrolls for February. Gold for April delivery gained $2.20 to $1,135.30 an ounce in electronic trading on Globex. "The muted tone in currencies has been echoed in gold and silver so far this morning, as traders await U.S. payrolls for some clarity on the U.S. economy," said James Moore, an analyst at TheBullionDesk.com. In the short term, both metals are likely to consolidate their recent gains, while the stronger technical picture and ongoing issues over Greek and other E.U. members' debt continues to draw investment demand, Moore said in a note to clients. March silver futures rose 13 cents to $17.29 an ounce. The Labor Department will release data on nonfarm payrolls at 8:30 a.m. Eastern. Economists surveyed by MarketWatch expect payrolls to have dropped by a seasonally adjusted 90,000 in February, partly because of heavy snow storms that hit the eastern half of the nation last month. The unemployment rate likely ticked up to 9.8%. Gold futures fell 0.9% on Thursday, retreating from their highest level since mid-January, as the dollar gained on support from U.S. economic data and a European Central Bank official's approval of Greece's plan to lower its high budget deficit. "Owing to concerns over the fiscal deficit of several European countries, gold is likely to remain in high demand as a safe haven," said analysts at Commerzbank AG. Investors will be watching closely Friday's meeting of Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin. Papandreou will seek to secure European support at the meeting after his government committed to new austerity measures earlier this week. Read more on Greece.

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