Gold steadies in tight range as virus fears offset solid US jobs data

Gold was flat, trading in a narrow $5-range on Friday, as worries over a global surge in coronavirus infections and lingering trade tension between the United States and China overshadowed strong U.S. jobs data.

Spot gold was mostly unchanged at $1,775.35 per ounce by 0647 GMT. U.S. markets are closed on Friday ahead of Independence Day on July 4.

US gold futures eased 0.3% to $1,785.

"Nagging doubts appear to remain in investors' minds about the explosion of COVID-19 cases in the U.S. sunbelt states and its possible negative effect on the recovery going forward," said Jeffrey Halley, a senior market analyst at OANDA.

The United States reported more than 55,000 new infections on Thursday, a new daily global record in the pandemic that has infected more than 10.89 million people worldwide.

"Geopolitical considerations are also to the fore... with a holiday in the United States, and the weekend upon us, some haven-directed buying of gold is definitely evident," Halley added.

Markets also kept a wary eye on China's trade relations with the United States.

More than 75 members of the U.S. Congress sent a letter to President Donald Trump urging him to make a formal determination of whether China's treatment of Muslim Uighurs and other groups constituted an atrocity.

Indicative of sentiment, holdings of SPDR Gold Trust, rose 0.8% to 1,191.47 tonnes on Thursday.

Stemming bullion's advance, better-than-expected U.S. jobs reports lifted sentiment in wider financial markets.

The U.S. economy created jobs at a record clip in June, but 31.5 million Americans were collecting unemployment checks in the middle of the month.

Palladium fell 0.4% to $1,893.12 per ounce, while platinum rose 0.8% to $809.50, set for its first weekly gain in six.

Silver gained 0.4% to $17.97, heading for its fourth consecutive weekly gain.