By Gina Lee
Investing.com – Gold was down on Friday morning in Asia. However, the yellow metal was on course for a second consecutive weekly gain as investors brace for the U.S. Federal Reserve’s policy decision.
Gold futures inched down 0.07% to $1,841.30 by 11:19 PM ET (4:19 AM GMT), while benchmark U.S. 10-year Treasury yields dropped on Thursday.
Gold has gained about 1.2% so far this week and is set for its second weekly gain in three in January. Although it has had a positive start to 2022, it could be a difficult year for gold.
Investors now await the Fed’s next policy decision, due to be handed down on Jan. 25.
On the data front, U.S. data released on Thursday showed that 286,000 initial jobless claims were filed throughout the week, a three-month high. Separately, the Philadelphia Federal Reserve Manufacturing Index was 23.2 in January. Existing home sales were at 6.18 million, but contracted 4.6% month-on-month, in December.
In Asia Pacific, Japanese data released earlier in the day showed that the national core consumer price index grew 0.5% year-on-year, and the national CPI grew 0.8% year-on-year, in December. The Bank of Japan also released the minutes from its most recent policy meeting.
In other precious metals, silver was down 0.4% but set for its best week in a year and is up about 6% so far. Palladium fell 0.6% but was poised for a weekly gain of about 9%. Platinum was down 0.4% but remained on course for its best weekly showing in seven months and has gained about 6.6% so far.