Gold is heading for a weekly loss due to the rise in US bond yields

Gold appears to be heading for its worst weekly performance in six weeks on Friday, as investors await the closely watched US jobs report, after a batch of strong economic data this week pushed US Treasury yields to their highest levels in nine months.

Spot gold rose 0.1 percent to $1,936.15 an ounce by 0138 GMT. US gold futures rose 0.2 percent to $1,971.70 an ounce.

Gold prices have lost more than 1 percent since the beginning of this week and recorded their lowest levels since July 11 in the last session.

Long-term U.S. Treasury yields rose to their highest since November on Thursday after employment and other economic data pointed to easing inflation.

Thursday’s data showed the number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits for the first time rose slightly last week, while business layoffs fell to an 11-month low in July as the labor shortage continued.

The Bank of England raised its main interest rate a quarter of a percentage point to its highest level in 15 years on Thursday, the 14th consecutive increase, and warned that rates will remain high for a while.

Silver in spot transactions increased 0.2% to $23.6 an ounce, while platinum rose 0.3% to $917.29. Both metals are heading for a third consecutive week of losses.

Palladium rose 0.2 percent to $1,260.65 an ounce.