April 3 (Reuters) - Gold inched down on Friday after rising
1.4% in the previous session as the U.S. dollar firmed, but
record high weekly U.S. jobless claims filings kept a check on
bullion's downside.
FUNDAMENTALS
* Spot gold XAU= eased 0.1% to $1,610.64 per ounce by 0037
GMT. U.S. gold futures GCv1 slipped 0.1% to $1,635.50.
* The metal was down over 0.4% for the week after an 8% jump
in the previous week.
* The dollar .DXY was up 0.1% against key rivals, having
risen for the last two sessions.
* The number of Americans filing claims for unemployment
benefits last week shot to a record high of 6.65 million, as
more jurisdictions enforced stay-at-home measures to curb the
coronavirus. * Asian markets looked to latch onto Wall Street's overnight
gains after crude prices notched their biggest one-day surge on
record, helping offset concerns about the depth of a global
recession. MKTS/GLOB
* The U.S. unemployment rate will shoot past 10% in the
second quarter and the growth rate of gross domestic product
will decline by more than 7% as the virus grips the economy,
according to projections released by the Congressional Budget
Office. * The World Bank said it had approved an initial $1.9
billion in emergency funds for coronavirus response operations
in 25 developing countries. * Global coronavirus cases surpassed 1 million on Thursday
with more than 52,000 deaths as the pandemic further exploded in
the United States and the death toll climbed in Spain and Italy,
according to a Reuters tally of official data. * Europe's largest economy might shrink more this year than
during the 2008/9 financial crisis, German Economy Minister
Peter Altmaier said, adding that contractions of more than 8%
might be registered in some months. * SPDR Gold Trust GLD , the world's largest gold-backed
exchange-traded fund, said its holdings rose 0.33% to 971.97
tonnes on Thursday. GOL/ETF
* Palladium XPD= fell 0.8% to $2,196.39 an ounce, platinum
XPT= slipped 0.2% to $725.52 and silver XAG= declined 0.8%
to $14.42. All three metals were set to register a weekly loss.
DATA/EVENTS (GMT)
0145 China Caixin Services PMI March
0600 UK Reserve Assets Total March
0755 Germany Markit Services, Comp Final PMIs March
0800 EU Markit Comp Final, Services Final PMIs March
1230 U.S. Non-Farm Payrolls, Unemployment Rate March
1230 U.S. Average Earnings YY March
1345 U.S. Markit Comp Final, Services Final PMIs March
1400 U.S. ISM non-Manufacturing PMI March