Gold fell on Friday as commodity index readjustments and a firm dollar kept the pressure on prices in the near term, ‍with investors positioning ‍ahead of the U.S. non-farm payrolls data later in the day.

 

FUNDAMENTALS

* Spot gold ​fell 0.4% to $4,458.10 per ounce as of 0126 GMT. Bullion hit a record high of $4,549.71 on December 26.

* U.S. ⁠gold futures for February delivery firmed 0.2% to $4,467.60.

* The U.S. dollar advanced at the start of Asia ⁠trade, as traders ‌awaited the release of the latest U.S. jobs report and braced for a U.S. Supreme Court decision on President Donald Trump's use of emergency tariff powers.

* The ⁠annual Bloomberg Commodity Index rebalancing - a periodic adjustment of commodity weightings to keep the index aligned with market conditions - begins this week and is expected to maintain pressure on the precious metals market.

* New U.S. unemployment claims rose moderately last week amid a relatively low number ⁠of layoffs, while demand for ​labour remained sluggish, with businesses squeezing more output from their existing workforce.

* Investors, currently expecting at least two Federal Reserve rate cuts ‍this year, are looking to the non-farm payrolls data for monetary policy cues.

* The U.S. Senate voted on Thursday ​to advance a resolution that would bar Trump from taking further military action against Venezuela without congressional authorisation, even as the president said U.S. "oversight" of Venezuela could last years.

* Non-yielding assets tend to do well in a low-interest-rate environment and during geopolitical or economic uncertainties.

* Gold prices could rise to $5,000 an ounce in the first half of 2026 on rising geopolitical risks and debt, HSBC said.

* Meanwhile, Glencore and Rio Tinto said they were in early buyout talks that could potentially create the world's largest mining company with a combined market value of nearly $207 billion.

* Spot silver lost 1.5% ⁠to $75.71 per ounce after hitting an all-time high of $83.62 on December ‌29.

* Spot platinum shed 2.9% to $2,202.50 per ounce after scaling a record peak of $2,478.50 last Monday.

* Palladium fell 2.1% to $1,749.25 per ounce. DATA/EVENTS (GMT) 0130 China PPI YY Dec 0130 China CPI YY Dec 0400 China Overall Comprehensive Risk Q1 0400 Japan Overall Comprehensive ‌Risk Q1 0700 Germany Industrial Output ⁠MM Nov 0700 Germany Industrial Production YY SA Nov 1330 US Non-Farm Payrolls Dec 1330 US Unemployment Rate Dec 1330 US Average Earnings YY Dec 1330 US Housing Starts Number Oct 1500 US U ⁠Mich Sentiment Prelim Jan (Reporting by Ishaan Arora; Editing by Sumana Nandy)