Picture used for illustrative purpose. File

Gulf Today Report 

Gold prices soared on Thursday as investors await US weekly jobless data and March retail sales data.

Spot gold was up 0.2% at $1,740.04 per ounce by 05:05 GMT while US gold futures rose 0.2% to $1,740 per ounce.

According to Yingtao Jin, a StoneX Group analyst said "a weaker dollar after the Fed speech and the central bank's willingness to tolerate more inflation is keeping gold supported."

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The dollar has recorded a three-week low against other currencies, making gold cheaper for holders of those currencies.

In a note, Avtar Sandu, senior commodities manager at Phillip Futures said, "although gold has lost much of its appeal for investors in 2021 compared to 2020 and the technical picture has deteriorated in favour of bears rather than gold bulls, deep corrections of prices are still viewed as buying opportunities."