02:00 PM EST, 11/21/2025 (MT Newswires) -- (Updates prices.)

Gold traded higher midafternoon on Friday on revived hopes around a December interest rate cut from the Federal Reserve after a bullish U.S. jobs report.

Gold for December delivery was last seen up US$16.30 to US$4,076.30 per ounce.

The price of the metal has failed to retest its Oct. 20 record high of US$4,359.40 for the past month, but rising hopes for a U.S. interest rate cut offers support after the Bureau of Labor Statistics, in a delayed report due to the government shutdown, said U.S. employers added 119,000 jobs in September, well ahead of the consensus estimate for a rise of 50,000 positions.

Following the data, the CME Fedwatch Tool now sees the probability of an interest rate cut at the Dec. 10 meeting of the Fed's policy committee at 69.1%, up from 39.1% a day ago.

"With shifting uncertainty given the end of the US government shutdown and more data points coming into view, the Fed is back in focus for gold," Christopher Louney, a commodities strategist at RBC Capital Markets, wrote.

The dollar was steady early, with the ICE dollar index last seen up 0.09 points to 100.24, Treasury yields weakened, lowering the carrying cost of owning gold. The yield on the U.S. two-year note was down 1.2 basis points to 3.535%, while the 10-year note was paying 4.079%, down 0.9 points.