Gold rises, heads for best weekly gain since early April

Gold prices rose on Friday, heading for their best weekly performance since April 5, supported by improved investor sentiment regarding monetary easing prospects in America after the release of weekly jobless claims data.

Prices of the yellow metal for June delivery rose by 0.90% to $2361.30 per ounce at 08:07 AM KSA Time, heading towards recording weekly gains as they are up by about 2.2% since last Friday's settlement.

Spot gold gained 0.39% to $2355.45 per ounce. Silver futures for July delivery rose by 1.15% to $28.69. Spot platinum added 0.24% to $986.83 per ounce.

Gold gains were further bolstered by the release of data on May 9 showing further slowdown in the US labor market. Initial jobless claims increased by 22,000 to 231,000 for the week ended May 4, beating expectations of an increase to 212,000.