Bullions rise following weak job data

Gold for April delivery rose $8.60, or 0.5%, to settle at $1,670.60 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange on Friday. Tracking the most-active contracts, prices finished nearly 0.9% higher than a week ago,

Silver for March delivery rose 61 cents, or 1.9%, to end at $31.96 an ounce, 2.4% higher than a week ago.

The day was busy with economic data, most of which surprised to the upside. Overseas, China's HSBC manufacturing PMI signaled continued expansion while readings in Europe were better-than-feared.

At Wall Street, investors received a full slate of data with the headline report coming in the form of January nonfarm payrolls. During the first month of 2013, the economy added 157,000 nonfarm jobs, which fell short of the 180,000 expected. In addition, the unemployment rate ticked up to 7.9%.

The morning sentiment was aided by a strong January ISM index, upbeat December construction spending, as well as the positive revision to the final January Michigan Consumer Sentiment Survey.

The nation's manufacturing firms increased activity in January at the fastest pace since April, according to a closely followed survey of top executives released Friday. The Institute for Supply Management index rose to 53.1% from 50.2% in December, and above the 51.0% expected. Readings over 50% in the ISM diffusion index indicate that more firms are growing than contracting. The ISM tracks the breadth of growth across firms, asking purchasing managers if business is better this month than last.

Separte report showed that a gauge of consumer sentiment rose in January more than Wall Street had expected, but overall levels remained relatively low with respondents concerned over higher payroll taxes, according to data released Friday. The University of Michigan-Thomson Reuters sentiment gauge rose to a final January reading of 73.8, up from 72.9 in December. Market had expected a final January reading of 71.5, compared with a preliminary reading of 71.3, with higher payroll taxes continuing to weigh on consumers' moods.

Chinese manufacturing data, released during the Asian session Friday, painted a mixed picture for the key sector.

The dollar index, which weighs the strength of the dollar against a basket of six other currencies fell by 0.2% on Friday.

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