Gold held steady as traders balanced surprisingly weak US employment data with comments from a Federal Reserve official that dampened expectations for further interest-rate cuts.
Bullion traded near $3,987 an ounce on Friday, having trimmed losses in the previous session to end little changed. Yields on 10-year Treasuries fell the most in about a month after outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc. released data showing the biggest October job cuts in more than 20 years.