Investing.com - Gold prices traded at one-year highs on Friday, helped by a broadly weaker U.S. dollar and lingering concerns over North Korea tensions with the rest of the world.
Comex gold futures were up by $9.95 or about 0.74% at $1,360.34 a troy ounce by 03:00 a.m. ET (07:00 GMT), the highest since August 2016.
The U.S. dollar came under pressure after the U.S. Labor Department reported on Thursday that initial jobless claims rose more than expected to 298,000 last week.
Sentiment on the greenback was also vulnerable as markets monitored the advancement of Hurricane Irma, which was set to hit Miami over the week-end.
Market participants seemed to shrug off remarks by New York Federal Reserve President William Dudley calling on the U.S. central bank to continue gradually raising interest rates seeing as low inflation should rebound.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was down 0.38% at 91.14, the lowest level since January 2015.
Gold is sensitive to moves in the dollar. A weaker dollar makes gold less expensive for holders of foreign currency.
Investors remained cautious amid speculation North Korea could launch an intercontinental ballistic missile on Saturday.
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday that he would prefer not to use military action against Pyongyang to counter its nuclear and missile threat but that if he did it would be a "very sad day" for the North-Korean leadership.
Elsewhere on the Comex, silver futures gained 16 cents or about 0.87% to $18.27 a troy ounce.