(RTTNews) - The price of gold held steady above $1,360 Friday morning amid a strong U.S. dollar.
Gold for April delivery, the most actively traded contract, edged down $1.60 to $1,360.90 an ounce.
Yesterday, gold slipped to an intraday low of near $1,350 as the dollar strengthened after data revealed that first time claims for unemployment benefits in the U.S. hit their lower level in over 2 years. However, gold recovered to settle marginally lower as the buck eased against the euro.
Holdings of SPDR Gold Trust, the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, moved down to 1,225.53 tons from 1,226.44 tons.
Meanwhile, the U.S. dollar was extending its 3-week high versus the euro and advanced to a 2-week high against sterling after UK said its Output Price Inflation accelerated and construction output declined. The buck advanced to 1-month high versus the Swiss Franc and the yen.
UK output prices rose by 4.8 percent in January from the previous year, the Office for National Statistics said. This follows a 4.1 percent rise in the previous month. Economists were expecting it to accelerate to 4.4 percent. Separately, the agency said U.K construction output declined 2.5 percent quarter-on-quarter in the final three months of last year compared to a revised 3.8 percent growth in the third quarter.
Elsewhere, the price of silver ticked lower and platinum edged up in morning deals.
In economic news, the U.S. Commerce Department will release its trade balance report at 8:30 a.m. ET. Economists estimate that the trade gap widened to $40.5 billion in the month from a trade deficit of $38.3 billion in November.
Later in the day, the preliminary report of the Reuters/University of Michigan's consumer sentiment survey for February will be released. The consumer sentiment index is expected to increase to 75 from 74.2 reported last month.
