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Gold prices inched lower on Friday as the dollar rebounded after robust U.S. manufacturing data, although bullion was still on track to register a third straight weekly gain.

·         Spot gold eased 0.1% to $1,876.42 per ounce by 1:43 p.m. EDT (1743 GMT) but prices were headed for a 1.9% weekly gain, helped by subdued U.S. Treasury yields.

 

·         U.S. gold futures settled down 0.3%, at $1,876.70.

 

 

·         SPDR GOLD HOLDINGS:

 

·         Data showed U.S. factory activity gathered speed in early May amid strong domestic demand.

·         “Strong economic data like the PMI does potentially have the opportunity to cause some short-term ripples in the gold market, based on the premise that the Federal Reserve could potentially reduce bond buying quicker than anticipated,” said David Meger, director of metals trading at High Ridge Futures.

·         Wednesday’s Fed minutes showed a “number” of officials were ready to taper monetary policy on continued economic recovery, although market participants shrugged off those concerns as they do not expect it to be imminent.

·         The dollar rose 0.3% against rivals, making gold expensive for other currency holders, while benchmark 10-year Treasury note yields held at 1.62%, down from Wednesday’s near one-week high of 1.69%.

·         “The bond markets show that they are leaning towards believing the Fed is going to be a lot slower in removing accommodation,” said Edward Moya, senior market analyst at OANDA.

·         Lower U.S. Treasury yields reduce the opportunity cost of holding non-interest paying gold.

·         “We believe gold may trudge higher as the negative impact of the Fed minutes wears off. That said, gold faces quite stiff resistance at $1,900/oz,” HSBC said in a note.

·         Elsewhere, palladium fell 2.5% to $2,781.64 an ounce and headed for its biggest weekly decline since the week ending Jan. 29.

·         Silver eased 1.1% at $27.44.

·         Platinum shed 2.3% to $1,169.05, on track for its second straight weekly decline.

  

·         Bitcoin down almost 50% from year's high

 

·         Bitcoin price falls after China calls for crackdown on bitcoin mining and trading behavior

Chinese Vice Premier Liu He and the State Council said in a statement that tighter regulation is needed to protect the financial system.

The statement, released late Friday in China, said it is necessary to “crack down on Bitcoin mining and trading behavior, and resolutely prevent the transmission of individual risks to the social field.”

 

·         Fed officials, new data, start lowering expectations for U.S. jobs in May

Federal Reserve officials and new Dallas Fed data have begun lowering expectations for May jobs growth in the United States as business hiring plans continue to outrun the supply of people able or willing to work.

- Dallas Federal Reserve president Robert Kaplan said Friday that hiring difficulties have continued through May, and will likely lead to another weak jobs report following the lower-than-expected 266,000 positions added in April.

- St. Louis Fed president James Bullard earlier this week however called that figure "hyped up," and said a "more realistic" expectation was for perhaps half a million jobs a month.

-  Philadelphia Fed President Patrick Harker on Friday became the second Fed official, along with Kaplan, to urge a faster start to talks over when and how quickly to reduce the central bank's $120 billion in monthly bond purchases.

- Atlanta Fed president Raphael Bostic and Richmond Fed president Thomas Barkin, speaking at the same event with Kaplan, both stuck to their positions that more hiring needs to take place before they'd be ready to discuss a bond purchase "taper."

 

·         White House pares infrastructure proposal to $1.7 trillion, Republicans balk

The White House said on Friday it had pared down its infrastructure bill to $1.7 trillion from $2.25 trillion, with cuts to investments in broadband and roads and bridges, but Republicans dismissed the changes as insufficient for a deal.

The White House effort represented a desire by President Joe Biden to engage with the opposition party on an issue that the Democratic president has made a priority in his early days in office.

But the two sides remain far apart on everything from the size of the package to how to pay for it.

 

·         White House sees global minimum corporate tax as key to broader multilateral approach

 

·         U.S. manufacturing powers ahead; home sales drop to 10-month low

Data firm IHS Markit said its flash U.S. manufacturing PMI increased to 61.5 in the first half of this month. That was the highest reading since October 2009, and followed a final reading of 60.5 in April. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast the index dipping to 60.2 in early May.

In a separate report on Friday, the National Association of Realtors said existing home sales dropped 2.7% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.85 million units last month, the lowest level since June. The third straight monthly decline in sales came as transactions fell in the Northeast, West and the densely populated South. Sales rose in the Midwest.

 

·         Belarus forces airliner to land and arrests opponent, sparking U.S. and European outrage

 

·         Biden rejects Trump’s approach to North Korea, says he won’t give Kim Jong-Un ‘international recognition’

President Joe Biden on Friday rejected his predecessor’s approach to North Korea and said his goal as president was to achieve a “total denuclearization” of the Korean Peninsula.

Speaking at a joint press conference with South Korean President Moon Jae-in, Biden used the example of former President Donald Trump’s high-profile meetings with North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un to illustrate what he, Biden, would never do.

 

·         Iran says inspectors may no longer get nuclear sites images

Iran’s parliament speaker said Sunday that international inspectors may no longer access surveillance images of the Islamic Republic’s nuclear sites, escalating tensions amid diplomatic efforts in Vienna to save Tehran’s atomic accord with world powers.

 

·         U.N. Security Council calls for ‘full adherence’ to Gaza cease-fire, immediate humanitarian aid

 

·         CORONAVIRUS UPDATES:

 

President Joe Biden on Thursday celebrated the new guidelines lifting mask requirements for people who are fully vaccinated, crediting his administration's vaccination program with dramatically reducing the impact of the coronavirus.