04.08.202110:46:00UTC+00Gold Inches Higher On Dollar Weakness

Gold inched higher on Wednesday as the dollar and Treasury yields languished in the wait for U.S. employment data to provide signals on the labor market and the timing of policy tightening in the world's biggest economy.

Spot gold edged up 0.2 percent to $1,813.90 per ounce, while U.S. gold futures were up 0.2 percent at $1,816.95.

Friday brings the highly-anticipated U.S. nonfarm payrolls data, with economists expecting the economy to have added 900,000 jobs last month.

A larger-than-expected July jobs increase could translate into more upside for the dollar and put it on a path back towards its year-to-date high.

Persistent concerns about the spread of the delta variant COVID-19 in the U.S. and China also forced investors to take refuge in gold.

China today reported its highest daily number of local coronavirus cases in months as mass testing and contact tracing campaigns uncovered a trail of Delta variant infections.

According to media reports, the Delta variant of the virus has been spreading into places that had remained free of virus for months, including the original virus epicentre of Wuhan. The strain has reached nearly half of China's 32 provinces in just two weeks.