SINGAPORE: Gold edged lower on Friday as the dollar recovered some of its early losses, but the bullion was still on track for its second successive weekly gain.

Spot gold was slightly down 0.2 percent at $1,335.90 per ounce by 0724 GMT. The metal was set for a nearly 1 percent gain this week.

US gold futures were also slightly down at $1,340.60.

“Gold is going to follow the dollar so closely till the US Federal Reserve meeting in September and could trade within a range of $1,335-$1,365,” said Ronald Leung, chief dealer at Lee Cheong Gold Dealers in Hong Kong.

The metal has given up much of its strong gains from earlier this week, when weak US jobs data led investors to bet that a September rate rise was no longer on the cards, weakening the dollar.

Gold is highly sensitive to rising US interest rates, which increase the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding bullion while boosting the dollar, in which the metal is priced.

Spot gold may retrace to $1,327 per ounce as it failed to break a resistance at $1,352, according to Reuters technical analyst Wang Tao.—Reuters