Gold falls on Friday, dollar and bond yields remain under pressure

Gold fell on Friday, poised for its second straight weekly loss, weighed down by a strengthening dollar and higher US Treasury bond yields.

Investors are waiting for U.S. employment data for clues about the Fed's monetary policy path.

Spot gold fell 0.6 percent to $4,154.78 per ounce and lost more than 3 percent in value throughout the week. US gold futures contracts decreased by 0.4 percent to $4,184.

While the dollar's weekly rise made gold priced in dollars more expensive for investors using other currencies, 10- and 30-year US Treasury bond yields rose to their highest levels since 2002 on Thursday.

Capital.com Senior Financial Market Analyst Kyle Rodda stated that the market is monitoring US interest rate expectations and geopolitical developments in the Middle East. Rodda said that US non-farm employment data is critical for interest rate expectations and that a strong data could increase the possibility of the Fed increasing interest rates and increase the pressure on gold prices.

US non-farm employment data for September will be announced at 15.30 GMT. Data released on Wednesday showed that inflation in the United States rose below expectations in August and that price pressures in the previous month were more moderate than previously reported.

While the expectation in the markets that the Fed will increase interest rates this month has decreased from approximately 70 percent at the beginning of the week to 25 percent, the probability of an interest rate increase in December is priced at 79 percent. Fed officials made statements this week that they should wait for more data before deciding on a new interest rate increase.

It was reported that Iran is preparing to give a more comprehensive and strong response if the USA restarts large-scale military attacks, but it also continues its diplomatic initiatives.

In other precious metals, spot silver decreased by 0.5 percent to $60.53, platinum decreased by 0.4 percent to $1,716.93, while palladium increased by 0.1 percent to $1,172.80. All three metals are poised for weekly losses.