Investing.com - Gold prices edged lower in European morning hours on Friday, but losses were expected to remain limited as Friday's downbeat U.S. jobs data dampened expectations for a December rate hike by the Federal Reserve.
On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold futures for December delivery slipped 0.22% to $1,134.10.
The December contract ended Thursday's session 2.06% higher at $1,136.60 an ounce.
Futures were likely to find support at $1,124.30, the low from September 24 and resistance at $1,141.20, the high from October 2 and a one-week high.
The Labor Department reported on Friday that the U.S. economy added just 142,000 jobs last month, well below expectations of the 203,000 expected by economists.
August’s reading was revised down to 135,000, from the initial reported figure of 173,000.
Average hourly earnings were flat month-on-month and the labor force participation rate fell to just 62.4%, down from 62.6% in August. The unemployment rate was unchanged at 5.1%, in line with forecasts.
The report underlined fears that a slowdown in global economic growth has spread to the U.S. economy and prompted investors to push back expectations on the timing of an initial rate hike by the Fed to early 2016.
Gold had been pressured lower in recent months by uncertainty over when the Fed would hike interest rates from record-lows.
Expectations of higher borrowing rates going forward is considered bearish for gold, as the precious metal struggles to compete with yield-bearing assets when rates are on the rise.
Elsewhere in metals trading, silver futures for December delivery dropped 0.51% to $15.185 a troy ounce, while copper futures for December delivery rose 0.62% to $2.340 a pound.