In early trading Friday, the price of gold declined against the dollar to strengthen on the eve of the publication of data on unemployment in the U.S., as well as on the background of weak demand for physical precious metals.

On Friday, the bidders expected publication of unemployment data in the U.S. in April. Published data have been mixed: on one hand the number of new jobs that were created in non-agricultural sectors of the U.S. economy, was 115 thousand, with an average forecast of 158 thousand, but with a different figure for the previous two months were revised upward by a total of 53 thousand. In addition, the unemployment rate in April fell to the level of 8.1% compared with an expected value for March and 8.2%.

At the same time, investors remained concerned about weak demand for physical gold market. Thus, the depreciation of Indian rupee made gold more expensive for the people of India, the world's largest consumer of the precious metal. In addition, according to some traders, Indian jewelers are planning a new round of strikes, which can also lead to a drop in the value of gold.

The cost of the June gold futures on the COMEX fell today to $ 1626.8 an ounce, then rose to $ 1648.0 an ounce and is currently trading at $ 1638.2 an ounce.