Gold was down on Friday morning in Asia, with investors digesting a slew of economic data as the month of April ends.
Gold futures were up 0.12% to $1,766.15 by 11:11 PM ET (3:11 AM GMT).
The U.S. GDP rose 6.4% quarter-on-quarter in the first quarter of 2021 and 553,000 initial jobless claims were filed over the past week, with government support such as money to mostly low-income households driving Thursday’s positive data.
Investors also continue to monitor progress on a $1.8 trillion stimulus plan proposed by U.S. President Joe Biden earlier in the week.
In Asia, China recorded a slowing pace of growth ahead of a weeklong holiday beginning on Saturday. Data released earlier in the day said that the manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) for April was 51.1 and the non-manufacturing PMI was 54.9. The Caixin manufacturing PMI for April was 51.9 and the Caixin services PMI is due in the following week.
In Japan, industrial production increased 2.2% month-on-month in March and the Tokyo core Consumer Price Index contracted 0.2% year-on-year in April,
On the COVID-19 front, the number of global cases surpassed the grim 150 million mark as of Apr. 30, according to Johns Hopkins University data.
In other precious metals, silver fell 0.6% while platinum was up 0.5%. Palladium inched down 0.1% after hitting a record high of $2,981.99 on Thursday but was still on track to post its third consecutive weekly gain.
