Gold futures settle lower for the session, but score back-to-back weekly gains

Gold futures settled lower on Friday, but notched a second straight weekly gain. A “stronger U.S. jobs report means talks about the [Federal Reserve] potentially pivoting [away from interest-rate hikes] have all but ended,” said Fawad Razaqzada, market analyst at City Index and FOREX.com. “The dollar is thus likely to remain supported on the dips, with investors also likely to be discouraged from the stock and gold markets, with the latter particularly looking less attractive because of the fresh breakout in bond yields.” Gold for December delivery GCZ22, -1.13% fell $11.50, or 0.7%, to settle at $1,709.30 an ounce on Comex, with prices for the most-active contract ending the week 2.2% higher, according to Dow Jones Market Data.