Gold is heading to record a weekly loss, under pressure from US data and interest rates

On Friday, gold prices recovered slightly from their lowest levels in two weeks, after strong US economic data caused a wave of selling in the previous session, and as the atmosphere dominated by interest rates pushed the yellow metal towards its biggest weekly loss in five weeks.

Spot gold rose 0.3 percent to $1,950.84 an ounce by 0657 GMT, having earlier reached its lowest level since July 12. US gold futures rose 0.2 percent to $1,949.80 an ounce.

Gold prices have fallen by 0.5 percent since the beginning of the week and are heading to record the largest weekly loss since June 23, as the US Central Bank and the European Central Bank continue to raise interest rates and leave them options open to implement more.

Data on Thursday showed that the US economy grew faster than expected in the second quarter, boosting the odds of avoiding a recession.

That strong data pushed the dollar index and 10-year US Treasury yields to a two-week high, which pushed gold prices down 1.4 percent in the previous session, marking the biggest one-day loss in nearly two months.

High interest rates in the United States, and with them Treasury bond yields, raise the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding gold.

As for other precious metals, silver rose in spot transactions by 0.3 percent to $ 24.19, as well as platinum by the same percentage, to $ 938.85, while palladium fell 0.5 percent to $ 1234.21. All of these metals are expected to record a weekly loss.