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Gulf Today Report 

Gold prices decline on Friday, their lowest in more than seven months due to the gains in US Treasury yields eroding bullion’s appeal.

Spot gold fell 0.4% to $1,769.03 per ounce by 02:50 GMT while US gold futures slipped 0.6% to $1,765.30.

Lachlan Shaw, National Australia Bank’s head of commodity research said "US bond yields have been rallying quite strongly in the last week, and there's growing momentum that they can lift further as US and global growth recovers more quickly as vaccines roll out." 

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Benchmark US Treasury yields recorded gains earlier this week, jump in yields increase the tendency of holding bullion.

The unexpected increase in US jobless claims last week didn’t stop gold from falling.

Shaw added that "the bond market is looking forward to where the US economy might be as we move through the year as vaccines ease the weight of the pandemic on economic activity, and with plenty of stimulus and support from US Federal Reserve."

The surge in Bitcoin has been competing with gold and a rally in it could be a headwind for gold.