Gold prices held steady on Friday ahead of the U.S. jobs report that could help investors gauge the Federal Reserve’s rate-hike path, and were headed for their biggest weekly gain since March.

Fundamentals
Spot gold was little changed at $1,709.69 per ounce, as of 0123 GMT.

Prices have risen about 3% so far in the week, helped by a retreat in the dollar and Treasury yields from multi-year peaks.

U.S. gold futures
were flat at $1,719.90.

The dollar index
and benchmark U.S. 10-year Treasury yields
were steady after rising overnight.

Investors are now focused on the U.S. nonfarm payrolls report due later in the day, with economists forecasting 250,000 jobs to have been added last month, compared with 315,000 in August.

New Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook on Thursday added her voice to the U.S. central bank’s broad consensus for continued interest rate hikes.

The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits increased by the most in four months last week, but the labor market remains tight even as demand for labor is cooling amid higher interest rates.

The German government expects Europe’s largest economy to slide into recession next year as an energy crisis, rising prices and supply bottlenecks take their toll, two sources told Reuters on Thursday, citing provisional figures.

The Perth Mint’s sales of gold products in September rose 4.2% month-on-month, while silver sales jumped to their highest in seven years, the refiner said in a blog post.

Spot silver
fell 0.4% to $20.56 per ounce, platinum