Gold Ends Above $1,300 On Renewed Ukraine Concerns

(RTTNews) - Gold futures snapped a four-day loss to end higher on Friday, as investors sought the safe haven appeal of the precious metal on renewed concerns over the situation in eastern Ukraine with Moscow calling for an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council. Investors largely ignored some upbeat employment data from the U.S., which surged much more than expected in April.

For the week, gold prices gained about 0.2 percent.

In some positive economic news, employment in the U.S. rose much more than anticipated in April, a report from the Labor Department showed Friday, with a much bigger than expected drop in the unemployment rate.

Nonetheless, eurozone unemployment rate held on to a high level for a third successive month in March, suggesting the economic recovery not yet strong enough to improve the labor market.

Gold for June delivery, the most actively traded contract, jumped $19.50 or 1.5 percent to close at $1,302.90 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange on Friday.

Gold for April delivery scaled an intraday high of $1,304.90 and a low of $1,272.00 an ounce.

Yesterday, gold futures extended losses to a fourth straight session, after April manufacturing activity in the U.S. rose more than expected, with consumer spending and personal income also on the rise.

Holdings of SPDR Gold Trust, the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, dropped to 785.55 tons on Friday from its previous close of 787.94 tons on Thursday.

The dollar index, which tracks the U.S. unit against six major currencies, traded at 79.54 on Friday, up from its previous close of 79.52 late Thursday in North American trade. The dollar scaled a high of 79.85 intraday and a low of 79.50.

The euro traded lower against the dollar at $1.3867 on Friday, as compared to its previous close of $1.3869 late Thursday in North America. The euro scaled a high of $1.3873 intraday and a low of $1.3812.

In economic news, The non-farm payroll employment surged by 288,000 jobs in April compared to economists' estimates for an increase of about 218,000 jobs. The unemployment rate dropped to 6.3 percent.

The report also showed upward revisions to the job growth in the two previous months, with employment up 203,000 jobs in March and 222,000 jobs in February.

A report from the U.S. Commerce Department showed factory orders to have risen 1.1 percent in March following a downwardly revised 1.5 percent increase in February. The pace of growth, however, was slower as economists had been expecting orders to increase by about 1.5 percent in the month.

Eurozone's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 11.8 percent in March, unchanged from February, after revisions to data from the previous months, figures from Eurostat showed Friday. Economists expected the rate steady at February's original 11.9 percent.

The jobless rate has been at 11.8 percent since December 2013, Eurostat said. In March last year, the figure was 12 percent.