Gold prices rose 0.5% on Friday at around 03:45 AM GMT to 1,956 an ounce as investors turned to the safe-haven asset after gloomy US jobless claims data stoked fears of a weak economic recovery from the COVID-19 crisis. The number of Americans filing for new unemployment benefits rose unexpectedly last week to above 1 million mark. Meantime, the US Federal Reserve Wednesday warned that the US faced a highly uncertain path in its economic recovery. On the trade front, Washington declined to reveal any plan to meet with China over the Phase 1 trade deal after officials in Beijing said bilateral talks could be held in the coming days. For the week, the yellow metal went up 0.2$ so far, after plunging by 4.5% in the week to August 14th, its worst in five months.
