Investing.com - Gold prices were little changed in European morning hours on Friday, as investors awaited the release of U.S. first-quarter economic growth data later in the day after a string of recent U.S. economic reports sent the dollar broadly higher.
On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold futures for August delivery were steady at $1,188.50.
The August contract ended Thursday's session 0.19% higher at $1,188.80 an ounce.
Futures were likely to find support at $1,180.20, Thursday's low and resistance at $1,208.90, the high from May 26.
Demand for the dollar continued to be underpinned as economic data released in the past week, including reports on inflation, new home sales, business investment and consumer confidence all indicated that the U.S. economy is gaining momentum after a slowdown in the first quarter.
On Thursday, the National Association of Realtors said its pending home sales index increased by 3.4% last month to the highest level since 2006, easily surpassing expectations for a gain of 0.9%.
Year-on-year, pending home sales rose at annualized rate of 13.4% in April, blowing past forecasts for an increase of 10.2% and following a gain of 13.5% in February.
The data came after the U.S. Department of Labor reported that the number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits in the week ending May 23 rose by 7,000 to a five-week peak of 282,000 from the previous week’s total of 275,000.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was steady at 97.13 in early European trade, close to Wednesday's five-week highs of 97.88.
Market participants were looking ahead to preliminary first-quarter U.S. economic growth data due later in the day, for further indications on the strength of the economy.
Expectations that the economy will rebound have supported the view that the Federal Reserve will begin to hike interest rates around September.
Elsewhere in metals trading, silver futures for July delivery edged up 0.19% to $16.703 a troy ounce, while copper futures for July delivery gained 0.43% to $2.779 a pound.