Gold Ends Higher As Friday Rally Helps Pare Weekly Loss

Gold prices turned higher Friday, after initially slipping on the heels of a jobs report that kept expectations for a rate hike by the Federal Reserve intact. The yellow metal shrugged off the negative implications of the solid employment report to finish higher as traders pointed to buyers stepping in at gold's depressed levels to make a bid. Gold was as low as $1,081.40 an ounce but swung to a high of $1,098.90 an ounce later Friday morning. Ultimately, December gold settled up $4, or 0.4%, to $1,094.10 an ounce. The Labor Department reported that the U.S. gained 215,000 jobs in July, which points to an interest-rate hike as early as September. Higher rates are a boon to the dollar but typically weigh on dollar-denominated commodities like gold because a higher dollar makes those commodities more expensive. Gold registered a weekly loss of about 0.1%.